The Four Witches Go to Hogwarts
by Rainbow169
Summary: Rosie Weasley and her friends Bunny, Serena and Galaxy are starting their first year at Hogwarts! What new adventures and surprises might they find in this magical school?
1. Family Expectations

Author's Notes

I do not own the Harry Potter characters, I am just using them for this story, as well as their children. I did make up several of the characters who are in this story, since it's set 19 years after the main Harry Potter stories end. This story is set after Deathly Hallows ends, right at the end of the epilogue. Thus, if you have not read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, you will be confused and spoiled. If you don't like that, don't read this story. Unlike with my Sailor Moon fanfiction, I don't have a character list since people in the Harry Potter universe don't normally have alternate identities like the Sailor Senshi do.

Chapter 1: Family Expectations

"It's me. I'm extremely famous." Rosie Weasley laughed at her father's joke along with her cousin, Albus Potter, as they watched out the window of the Hogwarts Express.

"Hi, Rosie! Come sit with us!" called a familiar voice. Rosie looked and noticed a small girl named Galaxy Baghill with long brown hair was already waiting in a compartment. Sitting near Galaxy were her other two good friends, the blond half-giantess Bunny Simmons and the Jamaican muggleborn Serena Tippet. Rosie waved good-bye to Albus as she entered the compartment with the other three girls. As she sat down next to Serena, she sighed, remembering what Ron had told her and the others earlier.

"What's wrong? Aren't you excited to go to Hogwarts? I know I am!" giggled Galaxy perkily.

"I'm worried about the Sorting," Rosie admitted, "My father told me and my cousins that he would disown us if we didn't get in Gryffindor. I think he was joking, but I don't know. What if I end up in Ravenclaw? I mean, I've always been told I'm smart, and that's the house for smart people. I don't think I'm brave enough to be in Gryffindor."

"What kind of father disowns his children over something like that?!" Serena exclaimed indignantly, "I personally don't care which house I get in, as long as I get in one of them."

"You don't understand, Serena, you're not from a wizarding family. Most of my family has been in Gryffindor, and they're expecting me and Albus to carry on the tradition. But I just don't feel like I would fit there," Rosie whimpered, close to tears. Sure, she had a few cousins in Hufflepuff and one who was even a Slytherin, but they were still the minority.

"It's okay, Rosie. I don't think you'll be disowned. I know your parents are nice people," Bunny said quietly, trying to reassure her. "If they were that prejudiced, they wouldn't let you be friends with me." Rosie nodded, smiling slightly. It was true, many parents wouldn't let their children play with a half-giant like Bunny, there were people who were scared of her. She then was startled as the door to the compartment was yanked open by a boy with very pale blond hair. He looked angry about something, and Rosie shrunk back, afraid of him. She knew he was Scorpius Malfoy, Ron had warned her about him. Was he coming in to pick on them?

"Hi! You can come sit with us!" Galaxy invited him, cheerful and oblivious to who she was talking to. Surprisingly, Scorpius sighed in relief.

"Finally someone will let me sit with them. I am so SICK of everyone avoiding me, just because my stupid father and grandfather were Death Eaters!" he declared as he sat down in a huff, right between Bunny and Galaxy. Amazingly, he fit, although it was a tight squeeze.

"That's stupid. What is it with these wizard families and expecting everyone to be just like their parents? Or do you magic people do cloning? Is that why?" Serena snapped. Rosie gulped, looking at Scorpius and Serena anxiously, dreading what would come next. Surely he would call her a "mudblood," since she just gave away her origins so obviously.

"No. It's not possible. There's no way of cloning a person with magic. Because if there was a way to do that, then I'm sure my father would've had a clone of himself made rather than having me the normal way," Scorpius commented bitterly. Rosie stared at him in surprise for a moment, but then she was relieved. Though he seemed rather grumpy, Scorpius probably wasn't going to be as cruel and snooty as his father was. She then thought of something Uncle Harry had told her, about someone else who was from a family like the Malfoys, who was also a rebel...

"Sirius Black!" she exclaimed, realizing who she was thinking of.

"Who's that? Another friend of yours?" Serena asked, confused. Galaxy giggled.

"No, he's not alive anymore. He was a wizard who lived 25 years ago. People thought he had killed a bunch of people, but he really didn't. He died before his name was cleared, though," Galaxy explained cheerfully, "I'm surprised you don't know about him, but I guess muggles wouldn't."

"He was my uncle's godfather. He was like you, Scorpius. He came from the pureblood Black family, but he didn't want to be like the others, either," Rosie said quietly.

"How did he die? Did his parents kill him for rebelling or something?" Scorpius guessed.

"Sort of. His cousin Bellatrix did it. Your great-aunt, if I remember," Galaxy added. Rosie put her face in her hands; why did Galaxy have to mention that? Wasn't it obvious that Scorpius was angry enough at his family?

"That exactly why I am NOT following in my father's dirty footsteps! For one thing, I don't care if he gives me a Howler over it, I am NOT getting sorted into Slytherin! Nothing good ever came out of that cursed house, nothing!" Scorpius ranted, enraged at the thought of who he was descended from.

"My cousin Louis is in Slytherin, though, and he's not evil," Rosie admitted, "At least, I don't think he is. He's kind of bossy, but that doesn't mean he's a bad person. Severus Snape was a Slytherin, too, and he wasn't evil. He wasn't very nice, but he spied on Voldemort for Dumbledore until his death."

"I still don't want to be in that cursed house. Maybe not all Slytherins are evil, but I don't want to be like my father at all. I want to be in Gryffindor. Harry Potter's house, the house of heroes," Scorpius sighed.

"Well, we'll just find out when we get there. Now we can just have fun on the train!" Galaxy giggled perkily, "Here comes the snack cart! Mummy was a witch and she told me about all the wild things Hogwarts students can eat, like these weird jellybeans that can taste like anything!"

"I don't like those," Rosie commented nervously, "They literally can taste like ANYTHING, which means some of them are disgusting." Galaxy grinned and bought a pack of the dreaded jellybeans from the snack cart, along with some of the more "normal" sweets such as Chocolate Frogs and Jelly Slugs.

"Aww, but that's the fun part, the part that makes eating them like a fun adventure," Galaxy pouted slightly, "But I guess some people don't really like adventures as much as I do."

"There's another reason I don't like those, and it's because of my little brother Hugo. I love him, but he likes to play pranks on people and some of them are really mean. Those beans are banned in our house because of him," Rosie continued. As she listened, Serena grabbed a brown jellybean, curious. She ate it.

"Are they really that weird? The one I just had tasted like chocolate," she commented. Galaxy grabbed another and popped it in her mouth. In her case, she almost spit it out.

"They are weird! I can't believe there's jellybeans that taste like vomit!" she laughed, and Serena and Rosie stared at her for a moment. She then stared back at Rosie. "Go on and finish your story," she said, "I want to hear what your brother did."

"He liked to trick muggles into eating the beans," Rosie sighed, "Including Grandma and Grandpa Granger, and Mum's taught them a lot about the wizarding world. But they didn't know about the jellybeans."

"That's sick! If you hadn't warned ME about what the jellybeans might taste like, I could've been tricked too!" Serena exclaimed, horrified.

"I agree. That sounds like something the Death Eaters would do. It was people like my father who would practice muggle-baiting, things like your brother did or jinxing toilets to explode," Scorpius added.

"That's exactly why those awful beans are banned in our house. It looked pretty bad since Grandad Weasley's job is that he's supposed to stop people from practicing muggle-baiting."

The train sped along down the tracks, taking the four girls and one boy to the magical school of Hogwarts. When they arrived at Hogsmeade Station, they followed the other first-years to where the fleet of boats would lead them to the castle. Bunny stared in awe when she saw the man who was directing the boats. He was huge, just like she was! Was that...

"Is that Rubeus Hagrid? Because you always told me there was another half-giant who worked at Hogwarts, and it always gave me hope that someday I could get a job too," she whispered to Rosie, who nodded. Bunny climbed in a boat with Galaxy, who was small enough to fit with her, while Rosie, Galaxy and Serena took seats with Scorpius. Despite her original fear of him, Rosie had decided that they might be able to be friends while they were at school together.

"Here we go! This is so exciting!" Galaxy giggled eagerly. As she watched the castle loom closer, Rosie felt some of her petite friend's enthusiasm, but she was also nervous about the Sorting. Which house would she end up in? She was afraid of what her father would say if she ended up in Ravenclaw, but then again, her non-Gryffindor cousins were still treated like they were part of the family. That thought reassured her, and she smiled.


	2. The Sorting

Chapter 2: The Sorting

The fleet of boats soon pulled up to Hogwarts Castle, and the first-years were all led into the building by Hagrid. They passed the Great Hall, hearing the voices of the older students, and he finally led them into a smaller room off to the side.

"Good evenin', everyone, I am Professor Rubeus Hagrid. Welcome ter Hogwarts, where you will learn all about magic. Before you can start classes, you'll get sorted into the four houses--Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. You'll live with the people in your house, so get to know them well. Good behavior and successes will earn your house points, an' breakin' rules'll make you lose them." As Hagrid finished his speech, the students began talking again, most of them unsure how the Sorting was going to work, although a few of them had family members who had told them about the magical hat. They didn't have to wait long, however, until Hagrid told them to get in a line. He led them into the Great Hall, where the Sorting was going to take place. Near the staff table was an old, battered-looking hat sitting on a stool. Hagrid stepped up next to it, and it began to sing. The song was all about the four houses, the brave Gryffindors, hard-working Hufflepuffs, wise Ravenclaws and sly Slytherins.

"I don't know what you were all scared of, we just have to wear that hat!" Galaxy exclaimed when the song was finished, she was looking specifically at a boy in front of her who had been convinced that this was going to be a test of their magic skills before they had even learned anything yet. The boy blushed, and then he looked up, startled, as Hagrid called off his name from a list.

"Apple, William." He walked up to the hat nervously, and Hagrid plopped it on his head. After a few seconds, the hat called out "RAVENCLAW!" William sighed with relief as the older Ravenclaws cheered and he went over to their table and took a seat. Galaxy was the next person to be sorted, and the hat had barely touched her head before it put her in Gryffindor. She waved to the others perkily as she bounced over to her seat. James Potter, Rosie's older cousin, grinned at the new girl who was sitting beside him. Several other names were called, including David Longbottom, Professor Neville Longbottom's son, until it was Scorpius Malfoy's turn. He marched up and glared at the hat before Hagrid set it on his head. Don't put me in Slytherin, whatever you do, he thought angrily.

"I'm not going to do that. You have the Malfoy blood, but you would not be happy in there," the hat replied, speaking into his head, "You have a thirst to prove you are different from your family, and a bold nature. You would do well in...GRYFFINDOR!" Scorpius let out a cheer as he jumped off of the stool.

"All right! I'm going to Harry Potter's house!" he called out excitedly as he joined James and Galaxy at the Gryffindor table. A few more people were sorted, and then it was Albus Potter's turn. Which house would fit me best? I know that my brother says I should be in Slytherin, but it doesn't feel right to me, he thought to the hat.

"You're right," it said, "You may have the name of Severus Snape, but you are your own person." Then where would I fit? I'm not smart, I know I'm not brave...Albus thought of the four choices. Would I fit in Hufflepuff?

"Of course you would. Go join your cousins in...HUFFLEPUFF!" Albus went over to the table that was decorated in yellow and black, where he joined his cousins Molly, Victoire and Roxanne, all Weasleys. Bunny was watching Albus from her spot in line when the boy behind her poked her in the butt.

"Too bad there's no house for big dumb brutes. I bet that poor hat's not going to be able to put you anywhere," he snickered at her. Bunny blinked the tears away that threatened to emerge. Believe in your magic, she told herself, you always wanted to be a great Seer, right?

"Shut up, Andrew. If Professor Hagrid hears you, he'll probably sit on you or something! You'll be in big trouble if you get sorted into Gryffindor," another boy hissed at the one who had insulted Bunny.

"Gryffindor?! I'm going to Ravenclaw! I'm too smart for any other place!" Andrew bragged, now turning away from Bunny to argue. Bunny stepped away from them slightly; she hated it when people fought like that. Wasn't everyone supposed to be friends here at Hogwarts? After several other people were sorted, it was Bunny's turn. She smiled at Hagrid as he set the hat on her head. She didn't care where she went, as long as she could still be friends with Rosie, Serena and Galaxy.

"It's quite obvious where you belong. With your loyalty to your friends, you belong in HUFFLEPUFF!" Bunny smiled sadly, she was glad to be accepted into at least one of the houses here, but she doubted any of her other friends would be sorted into Hufflepuff with her. Rosie was obviously a Ravenclaw, and Serena...Bunny wasn't sure where she would end up, actually. She went to a seat at the end of the table, and surprisingly, it didn't collapse under her weight. She then noticed that it was Serena's turn to be sorted; she was in line after the two boys who had been arguing.

"Can you really tell me which house I belong in? Are you a psychic hat?" Serena asked the Sorting Hat before she put it on her raven-haired head.

"Of course I can, I can read your mind," the hat responded, and Serena gasped in surprise. So which house do I fit in? Are you going to put me in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff with Galaxy and Bunny? I hate to admit it, but I know I'm not really as brave as I like people to think I am, she thought, amazed to hear what looked like a beat-up piece of clothing talking to her.

"No, you're not a Gryffindor, nor are you a Hufflepuff. You might do well in Ravenclaw, but that's not the place you belong. It's rare for someone of your birth, but go find the greatness you desire in...SLYTHERIN!" Serena gasped in surprise again, stunned at the hat's choice. She did sometimes think of herself as being ambitious, she liked being the "dominant" one, but wasn't that house only for people with wizard parents? She stumbled towards the Slytherin table, still wondering if the hat made a mistake.

"Hey, Slytherins, now you can't make fun of people like the great Hermione Granger! You've got a muggleborn in your own group!" Scorpius Malfoy shouted out from the Gryffindor table, and several of the Slytherins glared back at him. Rosie, who was still in line, blushed at Scorpius's loud comment. Was her mother really that great? Sure, she had her own Chocolate Frog card, but still...

"Weasley, Rose!" She jumped, startled at hearing Hagrid call her name. She then realized that the two people who were between her and Serena had been sorted, and it was now her turn. This is the moment of truth, she thought nervously, I hope the hat makes the right choice with me. Her father's joking comment ran through her head again, but she shook it off. She wouldn't be disowned, would she? Her cousins weren't.

"Another Weasley, eh? I know where I put your mother and father, but you would not do well there." Rosie jumped, she had barely noticed that the hat was on her head, talking to her. So she wouldn't fit in Gryffindor? Was she a Ravenclaw? Her heart pounded nervously, if she was in Hufflepuff or Slytherin, then she could at least be with Serena or Bunny, but were those good places for her to be?

"You would not belong in Hufflepuff or Slytherin either," the hat said, almost as if it could read her mind. "So I will put you in...RAVENCLAW!!" Rosie took the hat off her head and made her way to the Ravenclaw table nervously. She and her friends were all in different houses now. Could they remain friends? Of course we can, Rosie told herself, Mum and Dad are friends with Luna Lovegood, and she was in Ravenclaw. You won't lose your friends, nor will you be disowned for not being a Gryffindor. She sat down and watched the last few students get sorted.

"Zimmerman, Jennifer!" "RAVENCLAW!" A girl with short, dark brown hair joined the Ravenclaw table and then the feast began, food appearing on the tables. At the Gryffindor table, Scorpius was talking to Galaxy.

"I'm going to send my parents a letter as soon as I can. I'm going to tell them that I'm a proud Gryffindor, and that I am NEVER going to be like them. Especially my father," he declared vehemently.

"Never? Like, in every way? So you're going to dye your hair and get contacts for your eyes, too?" Galaxy asked innocently, "Because you could dye your hair black, get green contacts, and put on fake glasses to look like Harry Potter!" Scorpius smiled, that might be a good idea, he thought.

"That would be pretty confusing, my little brother looks like Dad enough as it is," James commented; he was sitting across from them.

"But you're his son! You can tell me how to be exactly like Harry Potter!" Scorpius exclaimed, "I want to be like him, not my father."

"Exactly like him? Are you sure? Because there's a lot more to Harry Potter than the looks. You've got the right house, though," James smirked, he had been wary of Draco's son at first, but that outburst where he yelled at the Slytherins had clinched it. Let Draco and Dad be shocked, James thought he might like the little Malfoy, even if he did look like a miniature version of Draco himself.

"That's why I'm asking you, because I'm sure you could help me, since you know all about him," Scorpius pleaded.

"Hey, maybe you could teach a class or something. For other people who idolize Harry Potter too," Galaxy giggled. She knew that she liked just being herself, but she couldn't blame Scorpius for hating the Malfoy name.

"You know, that might be a good idea. Scorp, how about I take you to meet your idol over the holidays?" James suggested, and Scorpius beamed in agreement, finally feeling like he had found people who liked him here at Hogwarts.


	3. Galaxy's First Day

Chapter 3: Galaxy's First Day

Galaxy's first night at Hogwarts had been fairly uneventful. Of course, Scorpius wrote a letter to his parents, and requested that he use James's owl Mercury to deliver it.

"That way my parents definitely know I am going to be friends with the Potters, no matter if they want to stop me!" he had declared. Surprisingly, James had agreed, mainly because he had some of his own letters to send, mainly to his own parents and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, telling them where Rosie and Albus had been sorted.

The next morning began like normal in the Great Hall when the owls filled the room, delivering mail to the students. Scorpius wasn't too surprised when he received a letter that was from his parents, and he opened it.

"I'm disappointed that you're not in Slytherin, but if the Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor, there's nothing we can do about it. I will be reluctantly hoping Gryffindor wins the House Cup, but only because you're in it," he read aloud. He stared at the letter, surprised.

"That's not too bad. Is your father really that bad a guy? I mean, from the way you yell about him, I thought he would give you a Howler," Galaxy commented.

"I did too. Mum might have something to do with it, though, she was never as intent on turning me into a 'perfect little Slytherin' like Father was," Scorpius mused. Along with the letters were their new class schedules. Galaxy grinned when she noticed what her first class was.

"All right! It's Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws! That means I get to see Rosie again!" she cheered, "And then we have Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, and Bunny's there!"

"Several of these seem to be mixed houses," Scorpius noted, "I guess the professors want to make sure we don't get into the rivalries that my parents' generation was infamous for." He then looked at the class list again, and pouted. "Or not. I think the Transfiguration teacher, Professor Amanda Quigley, is the head of Slytherin. She better not try to make me feel guilty for not being in her house."

"Well, we'll just find out soon. And Transfiguration sounds like fun, I wonder if we'll get to turn into different things?" Galaxy wondered excitedly, "Maybe she could teach you how to turn your hair black or something." Galaxy and Scorpius soon found out the answers to their questions, since Transfiguration was the first class they had. Galaxy noticed a certain chubby, redhaired friend of hers, but the seats near Rosie were already taken when she and Scorpius arrived. In the spirit of getting to know people from other houses, Galaxy sat next to a dark-haired Ravenclaw girl named Daisy Puff. When Galaxy opened her textbook, she almost gasped in surprise. She had been using a Chocolate Frog card of Severus Snape as a bookmark, and she stared at the card, and then at Daisy. The hooked nose, the sallow skin, the skinny build...Daisy looked like a female version of Snape! She then noticed that Daisy was glaring at her, causing her to resemble the former Potions Master even more!

"Hi, I'm Galaxy Baghill!" Galaxy greeted the other girl cheerfully, "I was just thinking that you look a lot like this guy." She showed Daisy the picture of Snape, and Daisy turned away abruptly.

"He was my cousin," she muttered. Cousin?! No way, Galaxy thought in shock, Daisy's a first year, like me! She didn't dwell on her classmate's appearance much longer, though, because it was at this time that Professor Amanda Quigley entered the room.

"I didn't want to! I didn't want to join your house, and you're not going to make me feel guilty for it!" Scorpius suddenly shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Amanda, who just looked surprised by this outburst.

"Obviously not," she said dryly, "I frankly don't care which house you're in, Mr. Malfoy, as long as you pay attention and listen in class. It may be hard to do something as difficult as transfiguration when your mind is worrying about other things."

"Who'd want to be a Slytherin? I bet you're just jealous you're not a Ravenclaw like me," bragged Andrew, the boy who had insulted Bunny at the sorting.

"I'm not jealous! I LIKE being a Gryffindor!" Scorpius shouted back.

"Be quiet, you two, or I'll have to take points from both your houses," Amanda scolded. Scorpius and Andrew stuck their tongues out at each other, but then took out their textbooks and decided to pay attention to the lesson.

"Boys," Galaxy giggled, "They're so loud and silly. Not like us girls, right, Daisy?" Daisy stared coldly at Galaxy, but didn't say anything. Professor Amanda rolled her eyes, and then she passed out matchsticks to everyone.

"As I said, this class is Transfiguration, which is the art of changing the form of objects and even living creatures," she announced. She then waved her wand and turned her desk into a tiger. Several students clapped in awe, except for William Apple, who screamed in fright and hid under his desk. Luckily, no one was hurt, because Amanda turned the tiger back into a desk quickly.

"So what do we have these matches for? Can we set things on fire?" David Longbottom asked eagerly.

"No, I don't want anyone setting things on fire in this lesson. Your first assignment is to turn your matchsticks into needles, which is a relatively simple transformation," Amanda sighed. She sincerely hoped no one would set anything on fire, that would be very dangerous, even more than the tiger. The students all set to work in their task, although, since it was their first time, most of them still ended up with either a silver matchstick, a brown needle, or some combination thereof. At the end of the period, the two students who had produced the best needles were a Ravenclaw boy named Rigel Green and a Gryffindor girl named Electra O'Blarney. As the students separated to go to their next classes, Galaxy noticed that Rosie looked rather upset about something.

"Why couldn't I do it completely?" she whimpered softly, "Mum was able to do it on her first try, and she didn't even grow up with magic!"

"It's okay, Rosie. Neither you nor Scorpius has to live up to your parents. Just be yourself. I'm sure there will be some classes you'll do great in," Galaxy reassured her cheerfully.

"That's right! I refuse to be like my father!" Scorpius exclaimed, joining Galaxy as they set out for the greenhouses for their Herbology lesson with the Hufflepuffs.

"I think it's a little different, Scorpius. Rosie's parents are great heroes, while your father was a nasty Death Eater," said a brown-haired Gryffindor girl named Electra O'Blarney who spoke with an Irish accent.

"I know that! Why does everyone want to remind of it?!" Scorpius shouted.

"Because you make it so obvious, you little Malfoy clone. You're the one who yelled about being expected to be a Slytherin in class," Electra pointed out with a smirk.

"I am NOT a clone!" screamed Scorpius, lunging at her in a flying tackle. Electra shrieked in surprise as Scorpius knocked her to the ground, his fists flying. Galaxy glared at him and sprang on top of him and Electra, yelling at him to stop. She then felt herself being dragged roughly away from the other two, who were grabbed and picked up by a very angry Hagrid.

"What is the meaning of this, you three?!" bellowed the man who had grabbed Galaxy. It was Neville Longbottom, the Herbology teacher. Most of the other Gryffindor students were in the greenhouse, and he had went to check on the latecomers.

"They started it! I was just trying to get them to stop!" Galaxy yelped, annoyed that she was being blamed.

"She called me a clone!" Scorpius protested.

"You didn't have to hit me for it!" Electra shot back, both of them squirming in Hagrid's grasp.

"20 points from Gryffindor for both of yer. And detention with Professor Longbottom here for delaying his class," Hagrid growled, "An' no more trying ter stop fights like that, Miss Baghill. I'll take no points off this time, though."

"You can put them down now, Hagrid. I will make sure they serve their detentions Friday afternoon," Neville stated.

"But that's our free time! Why am I being punished?! He's the one who attacked me!" Electra whined, "He's just as evil as his father!" Scorpius tried to lunge at her again, but Hagrid held him back.

"It's because yer sayin' stuff like that to him," Hagrid snapped at her, "Neville, make sure these two don't sit near each other in class." He dropped both Scorpius and Electra on the ground, and they glared at each other before entering the greenhouse and going to opposite sides of the room. Galaxy found Bunny, who was glad to see her fiesty little friend again, and the Herbology class proceeded surprisingly peacefully.


	4. Explosive Slytherins

Chapter 4: Explosive Slytherins

It was Tuesday evening in the Slytherin common room. Serena was reading her new Charms textbook peacefully, while her little Pomeranian dog, Jessica, curled up on her lap.

"Hey, Serena? Is that really a dog?" asked a cutesy, girly voice. Serena looked up and saw Bianca Garbel looking at her curiously.

"Of course it's a dog. Look, I know most people don't bring dogs, but no one has kicked her out yet. What's wrong with bringing my pet? You wizards have owls at home, regular girls like me have dogs," Serena snapped.

"Are you sure? I think it looks more like a Puffskein. Or can those breed with dogs too?" Bianca asked innocently, ignoring Serena's remarks about wizards not being "normal."

"A WHAT?! My dog is just a normal Pomeranian! They're supposed to be fluffy!" Serena shouted, jerking Jessica awake.

"Leave her dog alone, that's not a Puffskein. I have something better to show you," said Louis Weasley, a third-year boy, pushing Bianca aside.

"Go away! I'm trying to read here! I don't care about seeing your little magic trick toys!" Serena shouted, jumping to her feet. Jessica fell off with a yelp, and Bianca picked her up, cuddling her. Jessica began to lick Bianca's nose.

"I knew she was a Puffskein mix! They love to lick up people's noses!" she giggled. Louis stared at her for a moment.

"That is a real dog, you know. I saw pictures of dogs in my grandfather's books. He knows all about muggle things. And that's why I brought THIS to show Serena!" he announced, pulling a blender out of a bag.

"What's so exciting about a blender? You just put stuff in it, push the buttons, and it blends things," Serena sighed.

"What's exciting is that now you're here to teach me how to use it! You're the first muggleborn here in Slytherin that I've met!" he exclaimed.

"Show us how to use it!" someone else shouted, as a crowd of curious students peered at the blender.

"Oh she will show you how to use it, won't you. Mudblood," snarled Andromeda Elm, another first-year girl, coming up behind Serena.

"Who says I will?! I'm leaving!" Serena shot back.

"Not without this, I'm sure? Let's see what's better, a mudblood's wand or her precious blender," Andromeda smirked. Serena turned around and began to growl dangerously. Andromeda was holding her wand.

"That's mine!" Both Serena and Louis shouted this at the same time, the former referring to her stolen wand and the latter about his grandfather's blender, but it was too late. Andromeda casually dropped Serena's wand into the blender and turned it on. The wand began to spark and then there was a tremendous explosion, pieces of the blender flying all over.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here?!" shouted Cupcake Quigley, a fifth-year prefect and the daughter of Professor Quigley, the head of Slytherin house. She stomped through the smoke, waving it away with her wand. She found Serena, Louis and Andromeda lying on the floor, dazed and surrounded by pieces of broken blender glass. Serena's wand lay in the middle of the mess, completely unharmed by the blender or the explosion. Bianca was huddled behind the chair, clutching Jessica protectively.

"Andromeda was trying to blow up stuff! She almost hurt the little Puffskein puppy!" Bianca sobbed.

"I wasn't TRYING to blow up anything," Andromeda muttered, "I was testing whether or not a mudblood's wand can withstand her precious technology."

"Do not use that word, Elm. It is also completely unacceptable for you to try to destroy a fellow student's wand, no matter what her blood status is," Cupcake snarled, yanking Andromeda to her feet.

"What kind of Slytherin are you?! We are a house of purebloods! Salazar would be spinning in his grave if he heard you!" Andromeda retorted defiantly.

"30 points off. Anyone who is sorted into this house is a true Slytherin, including those of muggle birth. Being a Slytherin is about acheiving great ambitions, and how can anyone acheive their ambitions if everyone thinks they're evil blood purists?!" Cupcake ranted back. Serena quietly slunk back to her dorm with her book, wondering why her studying was interrupted like that.

"Yeah, muggles make great things! Get your head out of those old-fashioned ideas, Andromeda, we can work with the muggles and use their technology to achieve our ambitions!" Louis declared.

"Not here at Hogwarts, Mr. Weasley. If you remember, electrical appliances don't work properly here. I suggest you leave your grandfather's blenders and things at home next time, and I will take 10 points off from you so you remember this," Cupcake replied, although she sounded a bit amused. Andromeda glared fiercely at Cupcake.

"Blood traitor," she muttered and then she stomped off in the direction of the main staircases. Bianca stared at her confusedly.

"Where's she going? Most people aren't out in the hallways now," she said.

"Probably to see Professor Rain, the Headmistress. This isn't the first time she or her sister has gone to complain about muggleborns being sorted here. But I believe that if the Sorting Hat thinks that Serena is worthy to be a Slytherin, then I trust its judgement. It DOES have some of Salazar's brains in it," Cupcake said with a shake of her head, "She's just going to get herself in more trouble doing that at this time of night, but right now I have something different to attend to." Cupcake pointed her wand at the pieces of broken blender and said "Reparo," making them reform into their original shape.

"Put that away and take it home when you next have the chance, or I might not fix it again," she warned Louis. She then turned to head for the girls' dormitory herself. She had barely started going up the stairs when she heard her mother yelling at Andromeda.

"That is ENOUGH going out to bother Professor Rain with your foolish requests! 20 more points off! You should be ashamed of yourself as a Slytherin, you claim to love this house so much but you keep losing us points!" Amanda scolded, dragging a sullen Andromeda back into the common room. Cupcake snickered at Andromeda and then went to the girls' dorm, looking for Serena.

"Hey, Serena. Sorry about Andromeda, but trust me, not all of us are like her," she said.

"Leave me alone," Serena grumped, "I'm reading."

"Professor Sanders's assignments are that hard, huh?" Cupcake joked, sitting on Serena's bed next to her. Serena closed her book abruptly and glared at the older girl.

"Why are you bothering me? Don't you have even MORE studying than me, for those owl tests?" she snapped.

"Those aren't until the end of the year, I have a lot of time until then," Cupcake said airily, "Right now I want to make friends with you. I want to protect people like you from Andromeda."

"I don't need protection, now go away!" Serena shouted, and she threw her pillow at Cupcake's face. Cupcake looked shocked and hurt for a moment, and then she glared back.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when Andromeda bullies you again. I just want to show people like her that muggleborns can succeed in Slytherin," she huffed, stomping away. Serena stuck her tongue out at Cupcake behind her back.

"I don't need your pity friendship. I have my special dog with me," she muttered angrily, and then she smiled, clutching Jessica to her chest. She could hear Bianca calling for the "puff puppy" out in the common room, and she smirked.

"You're a good dog for me. You're pretty sneaky yourself, coming up here with me when no one was looking," she said with a rare grin as Jessica wagged her tail and licked Serena's face.

"It's the puff puppy! I found the puff puppy!" Bianca exclaimed, bursting into the room, startling Serena and Jessica. Jessica yapped happily and ran over to Bianca, dancing around at her feet.

"Traitor puppy," Serena grumped, opening her textbook again.

"Can I have her? I mean, until bedtime, of course, I know she gets to sleep with you," Bianca asked, although Jessica's eager reponse answered the question for her.

"Fine, as long as you bring her back," Serena sighed, rolling her eyes. Bianca might be annoyingly silly, she thought, but at least she doesn't obsess over me having non-magical parents.


	5. A Giant Family Reunion

Chapter 5: A Giant Family Reunion

A few days had passed, and it was early afternoon on Friday. Since the first-year students had Friday afternoons free, Albus Potter had chosen that time to visit Hagrid in his hut for tea. He invited Bunny to accompany him, too, since she was curious to get to know Hagrid better, being a half-giantess herself.

"If you want to, of course," he said quietly, "I don't want to force you or anything."

"I would like to meet him, though," Bunny replied happily, and the two Hufflepuffs set off for the hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid was waiting for them outside the door with a large black puppy next to him. The puppy barked excitedly and ran up to the two of them, giving Albus a big sloppy kiss.

"Isn't she cute? She's one o' Fang's puppies. Her name's Noelle, since she was born last Christmas," Hagrid announced.

"She's sweet," Bunny commented, feeling a little relieved. She had heard a few stories about how Hagrid kept frightening monsters in his hut, and was a little nervous about meeting any of his pets.

"Al, I remember when yer dad was just a little tyke yer size," Hagrid said as they entered his hut, "It don't seem too long ago that he was just startin' school here too."

"Everyone here seems to know about him," Albus commented, "Was he that famous as a child, too?"

"O' course he was! Who wouldn't have known about the 'Boy Who Lived?' But enough about the past, how's your family doin' now? Yer sister's gonna start here at Hogwarts soon, I reckon," Hagrid said.

"In two years, yes," Albus said sadly, "But...do werewolf bites kill people?" He suddenly seemed very worried and frightened about something, and Hagrid and Bunny were confused for a moment.

"You mean...yer little sister was bit by a werewolf?!" Hagrid exclaimed in disbelief. Albus nodded.

"She's in St. Mungo's right now, and I don't think she's going to die from it. She might even be able to come home by the weekend. But I've still heard scary things about what those bites do to people. Is she going to attack all of us every month now?" he whimpered.

"Nah, if she takes medicine around the time of the full moon, you'll be safe. She won't hurt ya," Hagrid reassured him, "She'll just turn into a regular wolf then."

"Thank you," Albus said, wiping away his tears, "I knew there was a medicine she could take, but I'm still worried about her. I thought you might know something about it since you work with animals so much."

"O' course, there was a werewolf who taught here at this school once. Name was Remus Lupin, he was a friend of yer father's," Hagrid continued.

"I know about him. His son often visits us at home," Albus added, "Hopefully Lily will be able to find love too, just like Lupin did."

"What about you, Hagrid? Did you ever find love? I mean, will I be able to have a romance like a normal girl?" Bunny suddenly asked.

"I dunno, Bunny," Hagrid sighed, "There's not many people out there who'd want a giant girlfriend, to be honest. And there's very few giants and half-giants as it is. There were a few, however, that did touch my heart, but I'm not sure I touched theirs in the same way."

"Al told me that the headmistress of a French wizards school was your size, though. Did you ever meet her?" Bunny asked, remembering some of the stories she had heard.

"Olympe Maxime...she was a wonderful woman. But she never returned me...feelings," Hagrid began to sob, "Not even the giant women are interested in a mutant like me. Even when we had a daughter together...she..."

"A daughter together? You mean, you had a daughter with a full-blooded female giant?!" Albus exclaimed, amazed. He always had liked hearing about the giants, especially the female ones, and wished he could meet them, but Bunny was as close as he was probably ever going to get.

"Yeah, I did," Hagrid admitted, continuing his tale and wiping tears away, "12 years ago I went on another trip to visit the remaining giants of Britain. I thought that I could convince them to side with the wizards once again, now that Voldemort's gone. There was one giantess who took a liking to me. Had a fondness fer wizard humans, she did, and she was kinda an outcast. We had a daughter together, but she left the girl with me. Said she didn't want ter be held down by a little baby. I took the baby here to Hogwarts, but I was forced ter give her up, even if she did have three-fourths giant blood in her. Headmistress McGonagall was a good woman, but she never understood. My pets would never hurt my daughter!"

"Do you know what happened to your daughter after that?" Bunny asked, curious. Would she ever get to meet this mysterious girl? Another half-giantess girl in Britain! Bunny tried to imagine what Hagrid's daughter would look like, and she almost giggled, in spite of the sad story, imagining a female version of Hagrid, complete with a beard.

"No, I don' know. McGonagall had me give her to a wizard couple by the name of Simmons, and..." Hagrid began to stare at Bunny strangely. "Yer name is Simmons, innit."

"Yes, Bunny Simmons. Are you...but that could be anyone. I mean, I know I was adopted, but..." Bunny stammered, it couldn't be! Was she Hagrid's mysterious daughter?! "When was your daughter born?"

"February 7, 2006," Hagrid replied, and then he noticed the plain shock on Bunny's bespectacled face. "That's your birthday?" Bunny nodded, blinking in surprise. Albus looked at Bunny and Hagrid, amazed at this new revelation.

"So you're his daughter, Bunny? Is that what you're saying?" he asked, but it was obvious now. Hagrid grabbed Bunny in a big hug, sobbing.

"You've come home, my girl..." he whispered, as Bunny buried her face in her birth father's beard. Albus watched the reunion, thinking about his own family. Did his father ever know, even being as close friends with Hagrid as he was? He'd certainly have to write him again tonight, if Bunny didn't mind, and he did want to know if Lily had gotten any better. After a long hug, Bunny was the first to let go, mainly because Noelle had gotten excited about the hugging and was dancing around her feet, barking at her.

"I think your dog might be jealous of me," she commented quietly.

"Yeah, I told ya Noelle was a sweetie, and she really likes to stay near me," Hagrid said, "You know, Bunny, I had my eyes on you when I saw you an' yer friends on those boats. I didn' know you were my daughter then, but it's hard fer someone like me to not watch a girl who's gotta be taller'n I was at that age."

"I was watching you too. Rosie told me about you, and that gave me hope that I might be able to have a job when I'm older too," Bunny replied, blushing slightly. She then noticed Albus going to the door, looking a little left out, and so did Hagrid.

"Where'ya goin', Al? Didn' mean ter ignore ya, just that I was so happy to see my daughter..." Albus turned back to Hagrid.

"Sorry, I thought that you might want time alone with her," he said quietly.

"You were the one I asked to come see me today. Both you an' Bunny can visit me any time you like," Hagrid said with a wink, "Now are you two leavin' or stayin'?" Before Bunny and Albus could respond, there was a knock on the door. Hagrid opened it and found a blond boy in a Hufflepuff uniform waiting.

"Is it true?!" the boy exclaimed in excitement.

"Is what true? Did somethin' happen?" Hagrid asked, a little confused.

"That you raised a dragon! Because I love them!" the boy continued.

"Well, that was a long time ago, 'bout 26 years ago, an' I wasn't really supposed ter have one," Hagrid admitted.

"Sorry, Hagrid. I told him. He was asking about my father's adventures here, and the subject came up," Albus admitted embarrassedly.

"Quite alright, jus' as long as you don't make a big fuss about it. I don' think anyone'd really punish me, since Norberta's all the way in Romania right now, but...you know." Albus understood, he had heard about when Hagrid was framed for having let out of the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, and it was obvious that Hagrid didn't want to lose his job over something that had happened in the past. He and Bunny stayed for awhile with Chorlton before all three of them headed back for the Hufflepuff common room, having learned a lot of new things about Rubeus Hagrid, the Gamekeeper.


	6. Rumors and Relations

Chapter 6: Rumors and Relations

When Rosie Weasley woke up in Ravenclaw tower on Saturday morning, she was very confused.

"What's that mysterious ticking noise?" she wondered aloud.

"Jenn-i-fer. Jenn-i-fer." Rosie looked around, hearing someone singing to the ticking noise beat, and then she sighed in relief. It was only Jennifer Zimmerman, singing her name to the beat of a metronome on her bed.

"Shut up! Some of us like to sleep in on weekends!" shouted a blond girl named Ariel Marsh, and she threw a pillow at Jennifer. It flew over Jennifer's head and landed on Daisy's lap while she was reading a book.

"Then don't yell and throw things. You're being louder than Zimmerman," Daisy replied coldly, knocking the pillow to the floor.

"You can't boss us around anymore, Snape, now that you turned yourself into an ugly little girl. Why don't you go back to the Slytherins where you belong?" Ariel retorted.

"I am not my cousin, you dunderhead. I would think a Ravenclaw like you would be smart enough to know he died," Daisy snapped back. Rosie sighed, hearing the argument. It was partially her friend Galaxy's fault, although Galaxy didn't mean to start anything like this. Galaxy had told James Potter that Daisy was the cousin of Severus Snape, and Elizabeth Topper, another Gryffindor girl in Galaxy's year, had misheard the statement as "Daisy Puff is Severus Snape." The rumor that Severus Snape had come back to life in the form of a young Ravenclaw girl had spread all over the school, and while it had started in Gryffindor, the other Ravenclaws soon heard it too. For her part, Rosie was more inclined to believe Galaxy. While it seemed a little strange that Severus Snape would have a cousin who wasn't even born until after he died, it was not impossible. Rosie wondered if perhaps one of Snape's parents had a much younger sibling, which could explain Daisy's existence. Thinking about Severus Snape made her remember her own cousin, Albus Severus Potter, who she was planning to meet after breakfast. He and his brother were going to meet her for a surprise that James had been acting very secretive about last night. She looked at her watch, a present from her muggle-born mother, and decided it was probably time to go see her cousins in the Great Hall.

"I don't care what you say, you look too much like him! You have to be his girl-clone or something!" Ariel was shouting at Daisy, who had stood up to go to the common room.

"Yes, there is no such thing as family resemblance," Daisy muttered bitterly as she left.

"I believe you, Daisy," Rosie said quietly, "Just ask my cousin, he looks just like his father." Poor Daisy, Rosie thought, it must be really hard to resemble such a controversial historical figure. I guess I'm lucky people like my parents, although it would be easier if they weren't so famous. When Rosie went to the Great Hall for breakfast, she looked around for her cousins. They were at their tables, and it seemed like there was nothing out of the ordinary. She decided it would be better to be patient and so she took her seat at the Ravenclaw table near Daisy. She was barely done with her breakfast when James ran over to her, Scorpius and Albus following him.

"We couldn't wait to come show you any longer. Well, someone was a little TOO eager when I told him what the surprise was," James said, with a glance at Scorpius, who was bouncing on his toes and had his hands over his mouth so he wouldn't blurt anything out.

"I'm done now," Rosie said, unsure why Scorpius was so excited, not to mention why he was in on the surprise. Then again, James did seem pretty friendly with him, so that could explain it. She followed her cousins and the Malfoy boy out to the courtyard, where Harry, Ginny, Lily, Ron, Hermione, and Hugo were all waiting for them.

"My heroes!" Scorpius exclaimed, "I can't believe they're actually here!"

"Is this a joke?" Ron asked suspiciously, "Is the mini-Malfoy trying to trick us?"

"It's not a trick! I really do like you!" Scorpius shouted, he looked very hurt by that statement, and Hermione gave her husband a scolding look.

"Ron, he can't be that bad if he's friends with James," Harry pointed out.

"I thought we were going to meet Hagrid! You promised we could meet him since I'm not allowed in the school building yet!" Lily whined, distracting them for the moment from being suspicious of Scorpius. Rosie noted with a twinge of pity that Lily had a nasty-looking scar on her forehead and her arm was bandaged. The group of 10 went along with the little redhead's wishes and made the short journey to Hagrid's hut.

"Why, hello, Harry! Haven't seen you in a long time!" Hagrid exclaimed, coming out of his hut to greet them. As another surprise, Bunny came out too.

"Hi, Rosie. I was visiting him too," she said quietly.

"Did you know, Rosie?" Albus suddenly asked her while Hagrid was busy talking to his parents. "Did you know about Bunny?"

"Know what? I didn't know she was coming here too, no," Rosie said, confused again. Why are my cousins keeping secrets from me like this, she thought sadly, is it because I was sorted into Ravenclaw and they're mad at me? True, she hadn't been disowned like Ron had joked about, but it had still been rather surprising since she came from a fully Gryffindor family.

"That Bunny is actually Hagrid's daughter. The Simmons family adopted her because he couldn't keep her at Hogwarts," Albus admitted, "She told me it was okay to tell you. She didn't know until yesterday either."

"What about her mother? Or..." Rosie paused. Was Bunny's mother a giantess? From what she had heard, they didn't sound like they were very interested in being maternal and raising children.

"She was a giantess. Hagrid, I mean, my real father, said she didn't want me," Bunny answered, apparently she was listening to what her peers were saying rather than the grown-ups' conversation.

"What do you want as proof, for me to kiss your feet?! I am NOT here as a spy for my family!" Scorpius was shouting, distracting Rosie, Bunny and Albus. Apparently he was having an argument with Ron.

"Kiss my feet then! I bet you wouldn't, no Malfoy could stand it," Ron smirked.

"Stop it, Ron. Don't treat him the way Snape treated me," Harry warned. Scorpius looked at him sadly, bitterly, and then he bent down and kissed Ron's shoes. Hugo, who had been watching the argument curiously, burst out laughing.

"I can't believe he actually did that! Kiss Mum's shoes, too!" he hooted.

"That's enough, Hugo. He doesn't need to kiss my feet, I can tell he's nothing like his father without needing that," Hermione interrupted.

"Really? Even after all the horrible things Father called you?" Scorpius asked incredulously, and then the bitter look came back into his eyes, "It wouldn't give you the satistifaction to see a minature version of him groveling to you?"

"Kiss Hermione's feet too, I dare you. No Malfoy would ever submit to a 'mudblood' like that," Ron ordered.

"What did you just say?! You told me and Hugo that was a really bad word!" Rosie yelped, she knew her father had a grudge against the Malfoys, but taking it out on Scorpius was kind of cruel, especially given the way Scorpius tried so hard to be different from his father.

"His father said it, and he probably thinks of muggleborns in that way too," Ron snapped, barely noticing Scorpius kissing a shocked Hermione's feet.

"Stop it, Ron!" both Hermione and Harry yelled in unison.

"You're acting the way Snape did to me! Don't bully him just because of who his father is!"

"He didn't need to kiss my feet!" The first was obviously Harry, and the second was a flushed Hermione, who continued with, "You're treating him like wizards treat houselves!"

"Now kiss my feet too! And Rosie's!" Hugo giggled, deliberately scuffing his shoes in the mud. Rosie blushed deeply at the idea.

"Ron, you're setting a bad example!" Hermione scolded, "Scorpius, don't kiss his feet, he got all muddy." Scorpius glared at Hugo but bent down to Rosie with a sigh.

"Please, don't do this to yourself. I know you already, and I know you're not like your father. You don't have to prove anything to me," she pleaded, and he looked up at her in relief and sat down on the ground.

"I still can't believe a Malfoy kissed my feet," Ron commented in awe.


	7. Spells and Defense

Chapter 7: Spells and Defense

During Monday of the second week, an exciting announcement was made. House Quidditch teams were having tryouts, and for the first-years, who weren't allowed to join the teams yet, there were flying lessons on Thursday, taught by Demetria Glitter.

"Why can't they make a rule so that pureblood first-years can play on the team? I already know how to fly, I've done it at home," Andromeda Elm whined as she went with the other first-year Slytherins to their first class, which was Charms.

"Because the last time a first-year was allowed to join the team, it was a half-blood from Gryffindor who never had flown before. It doesn't make sense, but Harry Potter was no myth," a large boy named Bob Schultz pointed out.

"I don't care about Quidditch," Fenella Oak admitted quietly, "I would rather collect teapots and read books." A girl with short, curly red hair, she looked a bit like Rosie Weasley except that she was thin and had a hooked nose. For her part, Serena wasn't sure about flying on a broom yet, since she had never done it before, but Quidditch did sound like an exciting sport. Hopefully she would be able to play in her second year, if they had a position open.

"How come Quidditch doesn't have cheerleaders like muggle sports? I want to wear one of those cute little short-skirted outfits and wave pom-poms!" Bianca giggled. Andromeda glared at her.

"Are you serious? What kind of Slytherin are you, wanting to imitate muggles like that?!" she snapped.

"But I just want to wear a cute little outfit and wave sparkly things!" Bianca sobbed, bursting into tears.

"You're lucky Professor Quigley didn't hear you say that, or you're going to lose us even more points, you blood-purist bigot," Serena muttered as they entered the Charms classroom. Luckily Andromeda didn't hear her, as she was confused as to why the classroom was completely dark.

"Did class get cancelled? Where's Professor Sanders?" she asked, sounding a little scared.

"Lumos!" A light appeared in the center of the room, revealing that Professor Zachary Sanders was indeed ready to teach that day. The light was coming from his wand, and he waved it again, brightening the classroom back to its usual glow. Several of the students clapped in awe, although others, like Andromeda, were just relieved to have the lights come back on.

"Is that what he's going to teach us? That would be very useful," remarked a boy named Moondust Catweed.

"It is indeed. As you may have guessed, today we are going to learn the Lumos and Nox spells, which create light and turn it off, respectively," announced Professor Sanders, "Very useful for finding your way in the dark."

"I'm sure that'll be easy. I've seen Mum and Dad do those spells all the time. At least for people like me who grew up in a normal family," Andromeda smirked, giving Serena a pointed look.

"Who blew up that potion last Friday? It wasn't me, you who thinks you know everything just because you're pureblood," Serena shot back.

"It wasn't my fault! That delusional mudblood Elizabeth Topper did it!" Andromeda protested.

"5 points from Slytherin, Elm, for using inappropriate language. We do not call people that word here, and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about," Zachary scolded.

"What, delusional? But she is, she thinks she's pureblood but she's a...OW!" Andromeda yelped as Diana Goyle, a tall, stocky girl with braided brown hair poked her in the side.

"You know very well Professor Sanders was referring to the m-word. Now sit down and quit losing us points," she hissed.

"As I was going to say before I was interrupted, yes, many of you have probably seen other wizards and witches use the Lumos and Nox spells before. However, that is only the first step in learning to do a spell for oneself. If you all have your copies of The Standard Book of Spells, turn to page 47," Zachary Sanders instructed. Andromeda did not take her book out with the rest of her classmates and instead raised her hand in the air.

"Why are you teaching purebloods like me such obvious and simple spells? Shouldn't we be learning more complicated things? Surely you don't need to sink to the level of people like Serena Tippet," she said smugly.

"Then demonstrate that knowledge you claim to have. Show me a proper Lumos spell," Professor Sanders challenged her.

"Lumos. Lumos! LUMOS!!" Andromeda shouted over and over again, jabbing her wand in the air, but she only produced a few sparks. Despite her bragging, she had never actually practiced many spells at home before. She tried for the last time and jabbed her sparking wand into her desk, which promptly caught on fire.

"Aguamenti!" Zachary yelled, and water sprayed from his wand like a hose, putting out the fire before Andromeda or anyone else got hurt. The desk was burned, but it otherwise wasn't damaged. Andromeda was on the floor, shocked, she had fallen off her chair in fright when she had started that fire.

"Too easy for you, huh? Maybe you're a little too strong. He asked you to make a light, not turn your desk into firewood," snickered Serena.

"I knew that. Bet you can't do it right either, though," Andromeda snapped. However, by the end of the lesson, Andromeda was one of the students who still hadn't mastered either spell correctly. Serena could do Lumos fine, but still needed work on Nox, and only Fenella Oak had suceeded at both. Needless to say, Andromeda was rather jealous of both Fenella and Serena and rather grumpy as the first-year Slytherins made their way downstairs to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class on the first floor. This class was taught by Professor Bridget O'Blarney, an Irish Auror who had decided to become a teacher this year. Rumor had it that she probably considered it a safer job, since she had already lost a hand, a leg and an eye during her dangerous work.

"Professor O'Blarney said we were going to have a special guest! I can't wait to see who it is!" giggled Bianca.

"It'll probably be Harry Potter or something. Everyone seems to love that man so much. It was his fault good pureblood families like the Malfoys were disgraced," Andromeda grumbled.

"But he was the center of the most recent war, and he was just barely of age then, too. He's gotta have some great first-hand fighting experiences, just like Professor O'Blarney does," Moondust commented.

"You're right, both of you! It IS Harry Potter! I can't believe it!" exclaimed another redhaired boy named Chocolate Quigley, who was the first to open the door to the classroom. Indeed, Harry Potter was standing at the front of the room, next to Professor O'Blarney.

"Hello, everyone! As Chocolate here just noted, our special guest today is indeed Harry Potter!" Professor O'Blarney announced cheerfully, a big smile on her scarred face.

"Hi, Harry Potter!" Bianca giggled, waving an excited greeting, "I'm Bianca Garbel!"

"Hello, Bianca," Harry said, glad that, so far, the Slytherin students were being welcoming towards him.

"Now, I'm sure you've all heard something about Mr. Potter here, so instead of giving a lecture, we're going to let you ask him questions. Who'll go first..." Bridget paused, and then she pointed to Andromeda, who had defiantly raised her hand high. "Andromeda Elm?"

"Is it true that the only reason you kept the Malfoys out of jail is so that they could be your servants and they would be indebted to you?" she accused. Several of the other students stared at Andromeda in shock, and Chocolate was looking from Andromeda to Harry and back, tears in his eyes.

"You've been reading Rita Skeeter, haven't you," Harry sighed, "No, that is not true. I do not have any people working as my servants. They may have made some bad choices, but they were victims of Voldemort just as many other people were." Andromeda didn't seem convinced, but she wisely kept her mouth shut and didn't start a fight.

"So you knew the Malfoys? Because my father was a friend of Draco's," Diana Goyle admitted.

"What was it like fighting Voldemort and the Death Eaters? Do you think we could do the same thing if another Dark wizard came along?" Moondust added. The young Slytherins then listened as Harry Potter began his tale, of his years at Hogwarts and of how he fought the powerful Lord Voldemort. And some of them, such as Moondust, were heartened to hear about Dumbledore's Army, since that meant that perhaps even students such as themselves could do amazing things.


	8. Gryffindor and Slytherin

Chapter 8: Gryffindor and Slytherin

Thursday finally came, which meant that the Gryffindors and Slytherins would get to start flying lessons together. So, when lunch break was over, Serena and the other first-year Slytherins went out to the Quidditch field this time, since it was going to be used for flying practice. Demetria Glitter, the Flying teacher, was waiting for them, along with 20 broomsticks that were laid out in two rows.

"Finally! It's just like what you told me about Harry Potter, right? I'm sure that I can prove I should be allowed on the Quidditch team this year!" Andromeda exclaimed determinedly.

"That's not what happened, Andromeda, no one's going to throw around a Remembrall this time," Bob sighed, hoping that Andromeda wouldn't break the rules and lose them even more points.

"Hey, Madame Glitter, can I be on the Quidditch team? You could have someone, maybe one of those Gryffindors this time, throw a Remembrall and I could catch it on a broomstick!" Andromeda continued, she had heard Bob's comment, but took it in the opposite way that it was intended.

"No, Elm, you may not. It's for your own safety that first-years are not allowed on the Quidditch team, as it is a very dangerous game," Demetria said sternly, and it was Andromeda's turn to sigh as she took the end broom next to a boy named Danny Nott. Serena rolled her eyes; she was sure Andromeda would mess up here, just like she did in Charms on Monday.

"Now everyone, I want you to launch the brooms into your hands by saying 'Up!' Then, after you are able to do that much, it will be time to mount."

"Up!" Though all 20 students said the same word, not all of them got the same results. The majority of the students, including both Serena and Andromeda, got their brooms in their hands, but some of the brooms just twitched on the ground, and in the case of Scorpius, his flew up and whacked him in the face.

"Hey, you gave me a defective broom!" Scorpius shouted, and Andromeda snorted at him.

"Maybe if you had joined us Slytherins like a good little Malfoy, that wouldn't happen," she smirked.

"I would NEVER want to be like you, even if it meant I could never fly! And I refuse to be like the rest of my family!" he shot back, swinging his broom menacingly like it was a beater's club.

"Go on, hit me. I'd LOVE to see you lose points again, you pathetic little mini-Draco," Andromeda snickered.

"That is enough, you two. 15 points from Gryffindor, Malfoy, for using a broom like that. Not only is that misuse of school equipment, but we do not fight in Hogwarts classes. As for you, Elm, 8 points from Slytherin for baiting him. I heard you, you started it, and you've only been making trouble since the start of the class, not to mention on Wednesday when the Slytherin team had tryouts and you bothered Captain Muffin until we had to drag you off the field kicking and screaming. If you cause any more trouble, I'm going to have you sit out and watch while everyone else gets to fly," Demetria Glitter ranted, coming between them and yanking the broom out of Scorpius's hands. Scorpius stuck his tongue out and glared at Andromeda, but he did let a muggleborn girl named Misty Kelpie pull him back into the line. Demetria stared at him sternly and then gave him his broom back. The students who were not able to catch their brooms the first time were allowed to try until they got it. Finally, Scorpius was the only one left, his broom seemed to hate him, it flew in his face, flopped on the ground, tripped up his feet, and he ended up being taken to see Madame Pomfrey when the brush side shot up his pointy nose and made it bleed. Of course, Andromeda snickered at him, but she was quickly shushed by an elbow in the side from Diana Goyle.

Since most of the other students were ready, Demetria let them try flying.

"When I give the signal, float up a few feet and try to hover there. Before you can do anything fancy, you must be able to get off the ground first," Demetria stated.

"Do you think Scorpius is going to be okay? I mean, I'd HATE to have something like that jabbed up my nose," Bianca said to Serena as they floated off the ground.

"You LIKE that little bloodtraitor?" Andromeda hissed at her.

"But he's so cool and wild!" Bianca giggled, and Serena rolled her eyes. She knew Galaxy was friends with him, but Scorpius really needed to learn to shut up sometimes. She thought it was kind of his fault that he got comments about his family, since he made such a big deal about how he hated being a Malfoy.

The next day, which was Friday, was the day the Slytherins had Potions class with the Gryffindors. By that time, Scorpius's nose seemed to have healed, as Serena noticed when she saw him enter the classroom. Like the Slytherin common room, it was in the dungeons, but it was not a gloomy place at all. The Potions teacher, Amethyst Sprite, had decorated the room with beautiful flowers and candles and had turned the walls a pastel pink.

"As I said, he got what he deserved for rebelling against his family," Andromeda muttered, smirking at Scorpius. Luckily, Scorpius didn't hear her, as he took a seat next to Serena this time. Professor Sprite liked to make sure the students in different houses worked together, so he thought that if he had to sit by one of the Slytherins, it would be the muggleborn girl he met on the train. A few minutes later, Amethyst Sprite came into the classroom, her long brown hair adorned with a blue and bronze ribbon, denoting her status as the head of Ravenclaw house.

"Good morning everyone," she said shyly, "I trust you all remember the basic safety rules I taught you last week?" Most of the students nodded, making the classroom look like a sea of bobbing heads. "Good. Today we can make a very useful potion, one that can cure boils. Look on page 36 and read the directions very carefully, because I would not want any of you to miss a step and harm yourself or others around you." Scorpius looked a little nervous when he heard that last thing, since in the last Potions class, Andromeda and Elizabeth weren't the only ones whose potion had blown up in their faces.

"Remember to add the porcupine quills after taking the cauldron off the burner, or else suffer explosive results," Serena read aloud from her textbook, "Maybe you should give those to me, Scorpius, so you don't have any more accidents."

"Speaking of accidents, is your nose healed yet? That really looked like it hurt," Bianca commented; she and Galaxy were partnered near Serena and Scorpius.

"I'm fine now. Maybe that broom hated me for being a Malfoy too," Scorpius sighed bitterly as he crushed his snake fangs.

"You know, people might just forget about your family if you'd stop mentioning it," Serena pointed out bluntly, and Scorpius glared at her.

"You don't understand! Everyone knows that being a Malfoy means you're a Death Eater, a criminal who hates anyone who isn't pureblood, and my grandparents were only saved from Azkaban because Harry Potter got them pardoned! How would you like it if you were the daughter of infamous criminals?!" he ranted, pounding the snake fangs so hard he was knocking them off the table.

"Like I said, maybe people would forget if you'd just SHUT UP about it! And you're making a mess!" Serena snapped.

"But he looks like his father, isn't that kind of obvious to people?" Bianca said meekly, which was the wrong thing to say.

"I HATE IT!! I HATE LOOKING LIKE MY EVIL FATHER!!" Scorpius screamed. He swung his arm around in an angry gesture and knocked his cauldron on the floor, spilling what was luckily only hot water. Unfortunately, he then pounded his fist right into the fire and screamed again, this time in pain as his hand was burned. Amethyst rushed over, looking quite worried and frightened, and then was just surprised as Scorpius ran out of the room, still crying.

"I'm so sorry, Scorpius, I didn't know that would upset you so much," Bianca whimpered, tears filling her eyes.

"How could you not know, he's always yelling about it," Serena muttered, "May I partner with you two, since I lost mine?"

"Of course, Serena, you're always welcome with me!" Galaxy giggled, though she was still worried about Scorpius.

"Can we play with your cute little doggy together this afternoon?" Bianca asked eagerly.

"If she wants to," Serena said, rolling her eyes. Of course Jessica would want to play, she seemed to like everyone.

"Do you like cats, Bianca? Because I have a cat named Giselle, and she's pretty cute too," Galaxy added.

"Of course! I love anything that's cute!" Bianca exclaimed happily.


	9. Vampires and Haunted Bathrooms

Chapter 9: Vampires and Haunted Bathrooms

Weeks passed, and Halloween came, which was a day Serena had been waiting for. Ever since she had found out she was a witch and that she was going to a school full of other wizards and witches and even some ghosts, she had been very curious what Halloween would be like there. Luckily, she wasn't too disappointed, what with the giant pumpkins that decorated the Great Hall that evening and the spooky decorations that had been put up. In History of Magic class, Dennis Creevey, the new teacher, had told them all about the adventures Harry Potter had on Halloween, starting with the tale of how he beat a mountain troll in his first year, to his attendance of Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday party. Finally, at the end of the class, Professor Creevey made everyone bow their heads in silence in remembrance of Harry Potter's parents, who had been killed by Voldemort on Halloween night, 1981.

"I was thinking about something, since this is Halloween. There was once a werewolf named Remus Lupin who went to school here and later was a teacher for one year, right?" Serena asked. She was sitting by Bianca, Chocolate, and Fenella at the Slytherin table, all of them enjoying the feast that had been made so nicely by the houselves.

"What about him? I don't think there are any werewolves in the school right now, although my sister did say that she knew his son, Teddy Lupin, when he was still a student," Chocolate replied.

"Have there ever been any vampires at Hogwarts? I mean, Professor O'Blarney has told us about both of them, and for people like me, we always associated werewolves and vampires with Halloween, so I thought this might be a good time to hear a vampire story," Serena explained.

"I can do better than tell you a story," Bianca giggled mischeviously, "I'm surprised you didn't know yet. There's a vampire here in the Great Hall right now. He's Rocky Dennison, a Hufflepuff from Scotland. We could go try to meet him when we're done eating. I want to go in that direction anyway, since I want to give Scorpius a birthday card. Today's his birthday."

"One of the Hufflepuff students is a vampire? How come all the others are normal wizards and witches then? Why doesn't he just bite everyone?" Serena asked, rather skeptical. She was looking over at the Hufflepuff table, but she didn't see anything that looked out of the ordinary.

"There's a potion for werewolves, right? So maybe there's a medicine or something vampires eat so they don't have to bite people to survive. I mean, he wouldn't be allowed to be a student here like us if he was going to bite everyone, right?" Bianca said perkily, getting up from her seat since she was done already.

"I guess I'll go with you, if you do something with me tonight. I've always wanted to visit that one girls' bathroom, the one no one goes into. I wanted to know if it was really haunted or not like they say," Serena agreed.

"I'll go! Maybe your friend Galaxy can come too, and she can bring her cute kitty!" Bianca exclaimed happily. Serena rolled her eyes.

"I'll ask her, but I don't think this is a pet parade. Jessica isn't coming, she doesn't even like the Bloody Baron, and he's our house ghost," she said. Bianca looked a little disappointed when she heard that the cute little Pom wasn't coming along, but she perked up again as she took Scorpius's birthday card out of her robe pocket, ready to give it to him. She and Serena made their way to the Hufflepuff table first, and Bianca pointed out a pale, thin boy with brown hair.

"He's the vampire. Do you want to meet him?" Bianca whispered excitedly.

"I'm surprised you haven't. I've seen him in Transfiguration before, though, since we have that class with the Hufflepuffs. I usually sit by Bunny, though," Serena replied. She then stared. Was Rocky eating raw meat? And was that blood instead of pumpkin juice in his glass? She shrugged mentally, realizing that Bianca was probably right. Maybe vampires just needed a special diet that has more blood in it.

"Scorpy! I got a card for you! Happy Birthday!" Bianca squealed, running over to the Gryffindor table excitedly and startling Serena away from staring at Rocky Dennison and his strange eating habits.

"You got a card for me? I didn't think any of the Slytherins would like me. I thought they saw me as a traitor," Scorpius said in disbelief.

"I like you. I think you're cool and wild," Bianca giggled, "Here, I'll read the card aloud so everyone can hear it. 'To my favorite wild rebellious scorpion, have a happy birthday. Don't worry, you're nothing like your father because if you were like him, you'd be in my house.'"

"Wow, you're sweet! You came all the way over here, just to give him a card? And with the Gryffindor-Slytherin match coming soon, I would think you guys would be scared of us or something," Galaxy commented.

"Why would I be scared of Scorpy?" Bianca asked innocently.

"Thank you, Bianca. Thank you for the card," Scorpius said, still surprised that he got a present from a Slytherin girl.

"So, Galaxy, Scorpius, do you two want to visit the haunted bathroom tonight?" Serena asked, deciding to switch the topic away from Scorpius himself.

"I shouldn't. James and I promised Sir Nicholas we would attend his Deathday Party. And isn't that a girls' bathroom anyway?" Scorpius pointed out.

"Wait, a Deathday Party? You mean, ghosts have parties that celebrate the day they died or something?" Serena asked, surprised by this new information.

"They do. And Scorp, you don't want to visit Moaning Myrtle anyway, she just cries and wails all the time. I hear she's not even attending the party this year, since she's too upset at Peeves teasing her," James said.

"That's so sad! I bet she needs someone to come cheer her up, and we can be the ones to do it, right Serena? Do you want to come too, Galaxy?" Bianca exclaimed.

"Sure, I'll come. And then we can go to the Astronomy tower. I hear it's haunted too," she said.

"That's our house ghost, the Bloody Baron. He likes to go up there when there aren't classes and make spooky noises," Bianca said knowingly.

"Hey, can Bunny and Rosie come too? Don't we usually do things together? I mean, we did before we got sorted here," Galaxy said. Upon that suggestion, the group of three headed back to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. Luckily, both Rosie and Bunny were interested in meeting Moaning Myrtle.

"My parents knew her when they were in school. As a ghost, of course, she died in Voldemort's time. But they met her when they used that bathroom as a place to do secret things," Rosie admitted.

"Oooh, what kind of secret things? Or are you not supposed to tell anyone? Was it something that they would've gotten in trouble for?" Galaxy asked eagerly. Rosie blushed, she didn't like to think of her parents, especially her mother, as being rule-breakers but the truth was, they were. During their time at Hogwarts they had done many things that got them in trouble, or would have if they had been caught.

"They brewed Polyjuice potion in there. It was because of the monster in the Chamber of Secrets," Rosie said quietly. The group of girls, which now numbered five, had left the Great Hall by now, and they were on their way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"I know about the monster from history books, but what does that have to do with Polyjuice potion? Isn't that used to turn someone into another person?" asked Galaxy.

"Maybe, since that monster attacked muggleborns, Rosie's Mum wanted to impersonate a pureblood student?" Serena guessed, "I'm glad that thing is gone, Andromeda sure wishes it was still alive, though."

"They didn't tell me why. They just said they used the potion for something during that time," Rosie said, "But maybe Myrtle will remember, we're right here." Indeed, this was the correct bathroom, as they could hear the sound of someone crying inside.

"No one likes me...everyone likes that popular Nearly-Headless Nick. I wish my head had been almost cut off, maybe then I would be a popular ghost," Myrtle was sobbing to herself.

"We're here to visit you! And I just learned that you knew this girl's parents!" giggled Bianca, and she pushed Rosie into the room ahead of her.

"Did you know Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley when they were kids? What did they do in here with Polyjuice potion?" Galaxy blurted out. Myrtle actually giggled, a surprising sound coming from her.

"It was VERY naughty, but I did like them visiting me. Especially Harry Potter. I wish he had died so he could share my toilet," Myrtle sighed wistfully.

"But what were they doing with the Polyjuice potion? Who did they want to turn into?" Galaxy repeated impatiently.

"Some boys named Crabbe and Goyle. I wouldn't know those people, they never came in to visit me," Myrtle pouted, back to her usual mopey tone. However, she did finish her story, the tale of the Chamber of Secrets, and the rather spooky events that took place in Hogwarts 25 years ago.


	10. Legends of Harry Potter

Chapter 10: Legends of Harry Potter

Along with November came the first Quidditch match of the year--Gryffindor versus Slytherin. When Serena followed her housemates to the stands, which were packed with not only the students and staff, but also their families, someone was missing.

"Where's Andromeda? Is she too upset that she's not playing to come watch the game?" Bianca asked as she took a seat next to Serena. Though she could not quite be the cheerleader she wanted to be, she still had been able to fashion herself a pair of green and silver pom poms that she planned to wave.

"She's down there," Serena said, noticing a familiar head of curly brown hair by the Quidditch pitch. Andromeda had grabbed one of the brooms and she took off on it.

"Ha ha, now I get to play! Shows you, blood traitors!" she jeered. However, Granola Muffin, the captain and Seeker for the Slytherin team, was faster and caught up to her.

"For the last time, Miss Elm, you are too young to be on the team. Come down and give Louis Weasley his broom back, and go sit with the other first-years in the stands," she said sternly, grabbing the broom so Andromeda couldn't fly away. Andromeda let out a big sigh as she noticed Amanda Quigley, her head of house, was in the announcers' box with Scorpius Malfoy.

"That's 20 points from Slytherin, Elm, for interfering with the game. Now come down before you lose any more points," she called, her voice amplified by a combination of a microphone and the Sonorus spell. Serena rolled her eyes as Andromeda was led back to the ground, but then she was startled as Bianca grabbed her arm excitedly.

"Look who it is! Scorpy got to be the announcer!" Bianca squealed.

"Hi, everyone! I'm Scorpius Malfoy, and I'm the announcer today! Just so you know, I am NOT like my father, so don't even think that! Now we enter our two teams today, the Gryffindors and the Slytherins!" Finally, both teams flew out onto the field, dressed in uniforms of bright red and green.

"Is that Andromeda's sister Libra? I didn't know she was on the team. Maybe that's why Andromeda's so eager to play," Bianca commented, pointing out one of the green-uniformed players who had brown curls like Andromeda.

"Playing for Gryffindor..." Scorpius beat his hands on the podium in a drum roll, "Dominique and Fred Weasley, Elmer Duff, Brian Pinkerton, Sarah O'Blarney, Fiona Finnegan, and the wonderful Chaser, James Potter! Of course, he's going to be a star, just like his father was!" Amanda Quigley nudged Scorpius, and he pouted a bit, but continued in a less excited tone. "And playing for the other team are Louis Weasley, Libra Elm, Cupcake Quigley, Tom Twinkle, Edwin Knuckles, John Flint, and Granola Muffin." The two captains, Fred Weasley and Granola Muffin, flew down to the ground to shake hands, and then Madame Glitter blew her whistle for the game to start.

"And they're off! Of course, James Potter has the Quaffle, and just look at him dodge those bludgers and the Slytherin Chasers! If you've got your binoculars, take a good glimpse at how he has black hair, just like his wonderful father, and his determined chocolate eyes that match his mother, Ginny! I'm sure you've heard that both of them have the best talent in Quidditch ever, and it certainly shows! And...James makes a score! Of course, John Flint is no match for the boy who has inherited such amazing talent!" Serena was getting a little annoyed at Scorpius's obsessive interest in James. Sure, he had scored, but that was because Dominique Weasley and Elmer Duff helped pass the Quaffle to him. Beside her, Bianca looked a little depressed about something.

"I wish he'd talk that lovingly about me," she sighed, but then she perked up. "Hey, maybe I'll be able to join the team next year, and then he'll pay attention to me!"

"I'm not sure about that. He seems pretty obsessed with the Potters. He doesn't even seem to notice what Granola Muffin and Fiona Finnegan are doing. If one of them catches the Snitch, the game will be over," Serena pointed out. Indeed, it looked like both Seekers had spotted something, and they were both going into dives. But still, Scorpius blabbered on about James, barely even noticing it as Granola managed to grab the Snitch and win the game for Slytherin.

"And James is now flying down to the ground, he's seen the Snitch and...what?" Scorpius put down the microphone, since Amanda Quigley was nudging him. "Despite James's best efforts, Slytherin still wins the game."

"James saw the Snitch?" Andromeda repeated, snickering, "That boy is insane, James is a Chaser! That bloodtraitor idiot, he has James mixed up with his father!"

"You know, it's been a long time since a game has ended this quickly. The last time I can think of is one of the games Harry Potter played, from what I heard, he was pretty good at catching the Snitch quickly," Chocolate commented, which made Serena remember something. She had planned to go looking for more historic places in Hogwarts with Galaxy, Bunny and Rosie, and this time, Albus Potter was going to join them. Bunny said that there was a room he wanted to visit. Serena broke away from the other Slytherins and found the other three girls and one boy waiting, out of the way of where the crowds were leaving the Quidditch stands.

"Hi, Serena! I have an idea! Let's bring Daisy along! Since she's Snape's cousin, I bet she knows a lot about the secrets of Hogwarts too!" Galaxy suggested.

"I guess," said Rosie uncertainly, "But I think Daisy grew up with muggle parents and siblings. Since Severus Snape died before she was born, I don't think he would have been able to tell her any secrets." Galaxy barely heard Rosie, as she had spotted Daisy, who was coming down from the Ravenclaw stands.

"Hi, Daisy! Do you want to come explore with us? You can find out the secret places your cousin probably went to!" she giggled excitedly.

"No. If I want to explore, I will do it on my own," Daisy said coldly, and she turned away from Galaxy.

"Albus, what room did you want to visit?" Serena asked, ignoring Galaxy and Daisy for the moment. Albus looked around nervously, as if he was afraid someone would hear their conversation.

"The Room of Requirement," he whispered, "That's where Dad held the Dumbledore's Army meetings. He told me, James and Lily that it was on the seventh floor, by a picture of a guy who was trying to teach trolls how to dance."

"Mum and Dad told me about it too," Rosie admitted quietly, "But they said that it was probably destroyed in a fire."

"Then we should go see if it's still there!" Galaxy exclaimed, coming back just as perky as ever.

"But I was told that it only appears if you really need it. Would it appear for someone who just wants to see if it's still there?" Rosie asked.

"Well, we won't know unless we try, right? Let's go!" Galaxy giggled. She cheerfully led the way up to the 7th floor, but then she let Albus and Rosie go ahead when they spotted the tapestry of the trolls in tutus. Suddenly, a door appeared on the wall, and Rosie gasped.

"I didn't know it would work...but I tried. I thought about how I wanted to see the place where my parents trained for Dumbledore's Army, and it appeared," she whispered to herself in awe, "At least, a door appeared where there was just a wall." Galaxy went eagerly forward and opened the door, revealing a large, open room. There were mirrors and bookshelves along the walls, and also what looked like beat-up training dummies.

"This is...this is like what Professor Longbottom told us about? Remember, Bunny? He showed us his special coin and told us about how Harry Potter taught him how to fight against Dark Arts users, when no one else would teach them," Galaxy exclaimed.

"He told us about that too, but I don't understand something. This school has a Defense Against the Dark Arts class, right? Then why did Harry Potter need to be a teacher himself, when he was still a student? Was it just because of the experience he had?" Serena asked.

"Partially, but Mum and Dad told me there was a mean teacher then named Dolores Umbridge. The Ministry set her up to be a teacher and they didn't let anyone teach real Defense Against the Dark Arts, since the Ministry didn't want to admit that Voldemort had come back. So Harry Potter had to start a secret group," Rosie explained.

"I can't wait to tell Scorpy and James what we found!" Galaxy chirped.

"Maybe you should make sure that they're the only ones who hear. Because I think this is supposed to be kind of secret room, and I was thinking, what if we need to use it to hide and someone finds us?" Rosie worried.

"It's okay, we could just wish for the room to not open for people we want to hide from! Like you said, it does whatever you want it to!" Galaxy said perkily, "I mean, with Voldemort gone, what real threat would there be?"


	11. Christmas Vacation

Chapter 11: Christmas Vacation

With December came the time Scorpius had eagerly been waiting for. He and Galaxy had both gotten permission to stay with the Potters during vacation time. He sent his parents an owl, telling them that he was going to visit Harry Potter and that they weren't going to stop him. And finally, on the 18th, it came time to get on the train back to King's Cross station, where he, James, Galaxy and Albus would meet up with Harry, Ginny and Lily and go home for the holidays.

"I can see them out the window! I can't believe it's him again!" Scorpius exclaimed, pressing his face to the window excitedly. After they got off the train, it was time to walk to the Potters' house.

"So you really don't hate me for what my father did to you?" Scorpius asked Harry hopefully, still a little amazed that he was actually being invited into the home of Harry Potter! He wondered what it would be like, maybe it would be happy and full of heroic, wonderful people.

"No, Scorpius, I don't. You're obviously different from him, and I learned the hard way that it's very hurtful for a child to be hated because of who his or her parents are," Harry reassured him.

"And if we hated you, we wouldn't let you come visit us. So don't worry," Ginny added. Scorpius smiled and was happy, until they finally arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place, which now was the home of the Potter family.

"You live here? But...you're not a evil pureblood fanatic Black! How can you live in an evil place like this?" he gasped, shocked to see where his hero lived. Harry was a little embarrassed, since he knew that it had once been filled with Dark artifacts, but since he and his family had moved in, things were very different. The screaming portrait of Sirius's mother had been removed by taking out the wall it was on, and while the Black family tree was still there, it had been highly modified by years of childish scribbling.

"That's because it used to be Sirius Black's house! He was Dad's godfather, and so he was given the house when Sirius died. And I thought you liked Sirius Black, remember? I told you he was a rebel from a pureblood family, just like you," James pointed out. Scorpius nodded and reluctantly entered the old wizarding house. To his pleasant surprise, the interior was not at all the gloomy place shown in the pictures of his Grandmother Narcissa, but was now a bright, happy place. And waiting to greet them were two people he didn't recognize. One was a stocky girl with long blond curls and glasses that were similar to Harry's, and the other was an older boy with striking turquoise hair.

"Hi! I'm Galaxy Baghill, James's friend, and this is Scorpius Malfoy! Who are you two?" Galaxy blurted out curiously.

"I am Teddy Lupin," the boy with the turquoise hair said quietly, and Galaxy noticed that Lily climbed right on his lap and gave him a big hug.

"And I'm Rebecca Dursley," added the girl.

"She's the daughter of my cousin Dudley. Since his muggle family doesn't understand her abilities very well, she often stays with us," Harry explained.

"Yeah, I like being here because I can use my powers. I have to hide them around my grandparents," Rebecca admitted.

The days passed. Scorpius and Galaxy had lots of fun with the Potter children, Teddy, and Rebecca, and soon it was Christmas Eve day. It was on that morning, when the owl post came, that Scorpius received a letter from his father.

"I'm sure he's angry at me for staying here...but I won't leave! He'll have to drag me kicking and screaming, and I know some spells I can throw at him, too!" Scorpius declared before he even had opened the letter.

"Maybe he just misses you, like how I miss my brothers when they're away at school," Lily guessed innocently. Scorpius decided he'd better get it overwith and read the letter, so he opened it and read it aloud.

"Here's what it says. 'Do not come back home again. You are not welcome in Malfoy Manor any more.' So he's finally admitted he hates me too," Scorpius spat angrily.

"But if you aren't allowed in your house anymore, where will you live? Could you live with your grandparents?" Lily asked, horrified that any parent would kick their child out of their home, even Draco Malfoy.

"They're dead," Scorpius replied bitterly, "One of the muggleborns who had been attacked by the Death Eaters decided to get revenge. I'm surprised that person hasn't come after me, too."

"Maybe he could stay with us. I mean, you told me that Sirius lived with Grandpa James when he got kicked out the Black family. Wouldn't he want us to do the same for Scorpius?" James said, and Scorpius stared at him in disbelief.

"You...you would want someone like me to live with you?" he whispered, shocked at what was happening. First he was formally rejected from his own family, and now he was being offered to join the Potters? Yes, he knew that James was a friend at school, but getting to live with his legendary family was something completely different!

"We'll see, James. Even for Draco, this seems like strange behavior, especially since he did seem to truly love his family from what I knew of him. Maybe he's just angry at the moment, and he'll change his mind by the summer. But if he doesn't relent, perhaps you can stay with us," Harry said. He did feel for Scorpius. Certainly he had grown up being unwanted by the Dursleys, and it would not have surprised him in the least if they had ever kicked him out of their house for good and sent him to live somewhere else. And Scorpius did seem to be an okay kid to live with, though his fanboy worship was rather embarrassing at times for Harry.

"I don't see why you can't visit any time you like," added Ginny, "I'm used to having lots of people living in one house, and this place is certainly big enough."

"Thank you very much for letting me stay with you. I would rather be here than in Malfoy Manor," Scorpius admitted. It was then time to open the other letters, especially since there was a message from Ron and Hermione that stated they would be visiting on Christmas Day, and also presents from Charlie Weasley, who was still in Romania working with dragons. James was given his own broom-cleaning kit, in honor of the fact that he had joined his house Quidditch team, Albus received a muggle book called "Gulliver's Travels," and Lily received a book on taking care of dragons. Her happiness was short-lived, however. December 28 was the day of the full moon, and since that was only 4 days away, she had to take her Wolfsbane Potion.

"I hate that stuff," she whined, "It tastes yucky." But she drank it anyway, knowing that otherwise, she could easily kill her whole family and possibly even the muggles in the surrounding neighborhood.

That night, there was someone planning some prowling in the house, and it was not Lily in werewolf form.

"Come on, Scorpius, Galaxy, let's go on an adventure tonight," James whispered excitedly to them both. Scorpius usually slept in James's room, which used to belong to Sirius Black, but for now, Galaxy was visiting the boys.

"Tonight? But aren't we supposed to sleep? I heard kids who sneak out on Christmas Eve don't get presents," Scorpius said, though Galaxy was grinning at the thought of a sneaky adventure.

"That's just something parents say. Come on, don't you want to be like your hero? Dad did lots of sneaking around at night when he wasn't supposed to when he was our age. I think his office door is open, maybe we can see if he's hiding anything interesting in there," James whispered excitedly, "He usually doesn't leave it open. Or maybe we can sneak peeks at our presents." Scorpius quickly shushed the part of his mind that told him not to poke into Harry Potter's private office--it WAS like something Harry himself would have done! And isn't that what he wanted, to be just like his hero? So he and Galaxy quietly followed James through the hallways. To their luck, they did not meet up with anyone else, and Harry's door was still open. When they got in, James and Galaxy were curious about the file cabinet, but Scorpius noticed something else. It was a strange glowing object that looked like a cross between a lamp and a bowl of glowing water.

"What's that?" Scorpius whispered.

"It's a special potion. You can stick your head in it and it will turn you into the person you want to be like. It's like Polyjuice Potion, only even better," James said with a smirk.

"Really? Is there really a potion like that?" Scorpius whispered in awe.

"Sure, go ahead. I bet Dad left that out for you," James urged. Scorpius gazed at the strange, swirling silver substance and bent his head over the bowl. James nudged him, and he then felt like he was falling, falling into what looked like Diagon Alley.

"What is that thing, really? I'm sure there's no such thing as a potion that turns you into someone else forever," Galaxy said skeptically, though she was also curious.

"I don't know what it is either," James shrugged, "But I have seen Dad take these weird silver strands out of his head and put them in that bowl, so I don't think it's going to hurt Scorpius."


	12. Into the Pensieve

Chapter 12: Into the Pensieve

Author's Notes: For the sake of accurately portraying some scenes from Harry's past, I have taken some of the dialogue from the first two Harry Potter books.

As he fell, Scorpius realized that he was going to crash right into the roof of Madame Malkin's! He braced himself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, he floated through the ceiling as if he were a ghost.

"Am I dead?" he whispered to himself. He looked at his hands and feet and felt himself...he still felt solid and alive. Then why did he just fall through the roof of the shop where he had bought his school robes? He then saw himself, or perhaps a clone, standing a few feet away and talking to a very familiar boy with messy black hair.

"Albus? Are you dead too? What's going on?" he asked, but then he heard what the other Scorpius was saying.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways," the other Scorpius sneered.

"Let what other sort in where? What are you talking about?" Scorpius demanded, although as his "clone" talked on, he realized with a sinking feeling that he was referring to muggleborns being allowed at Hogwarts, especially when he asked what the black-haired boy's surname was. Suddenly, the whole scene disappeared, and Scorpius felt like he was flying again. This time when he landed, he was in the Hogwarts Express, and that same black-haired boy was there, now accompanied by a redhaired boy that looked a lot like a younger version of Ron Weasley. Scorpius took a good look at the boy he had thought was Albus Potter, and then noticed the scar.

"That's Harry Potter...but...why is he my age?" he asked aloud, although it didn't seem like Harry and Ron's younger selves, if that's what they were, could hear Scorpius talking. In fact, it seemed like they were looking right through him, and then he was startled as his snooty clone spoke from right behind him.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle. And my name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." Scorpius stared, realizing what was going on. That wasn't himself, that was his father, as a child!

"Why I am I in my father's past here? What's going on?" he asked, although it was getting obvious even to Scorpius that no one was able to listen to him. He then grew angry as Draco went on to insult the Weasley family and Hagrid.

"How dare you! The Weasleys are going to help save everyone from Voldemort! They're heroes!" he shouted. He then watched as Ron's rat attacked Goyle when he tried to steal Harry and Ron's snacks, still noticing how eerie it was to see his father's younger self. He felt like he was looking into a distorted mirror that showed himself saying such awful things about his heroes. Once again, the scene changed, now to a grassy field where several students, including the younger versions of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, were standing with broomsticks as a boy who looked like he might be hurt was being taken off the field. Scorpius's heart went out for the boy, he himself had not yet mastered a broom yet and still could barely mount before it would send him crashing backwards. The worst had been the last flying class he had, where he was thrown into a tree. Scorpius was distracted and angered again when his father's past self started laughing at the boy who had been hurt. A girl he didn't recognize tried to stick up for the boy who had been hurt, and then a Slytherin girl with a pug face spoke.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom? Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati," she sneered. Scorpius gasped when he heard the name "Longbottom," that boy who had been hurt had to be the younger self of his Herbology teacher, Neville Longbottom! Then he saw his dad grab Neville's Remembrall and fly away with it, despite Harry's warning to give it back. Scorpius desired more than anything to grab a broom himself and chase his dad's past self to get that Remembrall back, but of course he couldn't touch anything. All he could do was watch in awe as Harry flew after Draco and was able to catch the Remembrall in mid-air.

"Go get him, Harry!" Scorpius cheered, but then the scene changed again. Now Scorpius was in Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore, where there was a crowd of people, mostly witches, who looked like they were excited about a blond guy in blue robes who looked like he had his face on lots of books. However, there was a different blond person Scorpius noticed, and that was his own father, who looked slightly older.

"Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookstore without making the front page," Draco sneered.

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" Scorpius then smiled as Ginny Weasley came to Harry's rescue.

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" Draco commented snidely, and Scorpius just gaped in shock. Was his father a Seer? He found that to be a rather eerie thing to say, since Scorpius knew very well that Ginny did later marry Harry. He was then distracted as Ron and what looked like a younger Hermione Granger came over and Draco made yet another crack at Ron for being poor. He was ready to join Ron in attacking Draco, but then a man he could only guess was Ron's father, the famous Arthur Weasley, entered the scene.

"Well well well, Arthur Weasley." Scorpius glared at the man who was his grandfather Lucius. How DARE his evil Death Eater grandfather speak to the wonderful Weasleys like that!

"You deserved to be killed for what you did!" he shouted.

"Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard when they don't even pay you well for it?" Lucius sneered.

"You're the disgrace! I HATE you, grandfather!" Scorpius screamed, barely hearing the retort as he lunged at Lucius, wanting badly to bash that stupid sneering, smirking face in. Of course, since this was only a memory of the past, Scorpius crashed right through his ghostly grandfather, falling to the floor with a thud that should have hurt. He then heard a commotion, and Arthur and Lucius were fighting.

"Go get him! Go get him, Mr. Weasley!" Scorpius cheered through the tears that were forming in his eyes. He hated it, how he was descended from such awful, evil people. And the worst part was that he couldn't escape it, couldn't escape his family name, and certainly couldn't escape the fact that he truly did look like a clone of his father and his evil grandfather. It then became worse as Hagrid entered the shop and pulled Arthur and Lucius away from each other.

"Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that, no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter, bad blood, that's what it is..." Scorpius began to sob as he heard what Hagrid had to say, because it was true. His whole family was evil and rotten, just a bunch of nasty blood purist snobs. As he sunk to the floor, the world spun again, and now he was back on the Quidditch pitch, sitting in the grass. This time, it looked like it might be time for a practice or a game, since both the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams were there, dressed in their uniforms. Ron and Hermione were there too, and as usual, Draco had an awful smirk on his face.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley. Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team," Draco bragged, "Good, aren't they. But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

"I look just like him...it's like looking into a horrible mirror," Scorpius whimpered to himself as the Slytherin team roared with laughter.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent." Hermione sharply retorted, but Scorpius didn't feel any better, especially when he heard what Draco said next.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood."

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!!" Scorpius screamed, lunging at Draco again, once again falling to the grass, not able to touch the people in these visions of the past. He could only watch as the Gryffindor team was in an uproar and Ron tried to curse Draco. However, it looked like the curse had backfired because of a broken wand, and Ron began spitting up slugs.

"No wonder Ron hates me," Scorpius moaned as the scenery changed once more. Now he was in an unfamiliar room that was full of green, snakey decor. Draco and his friends, Crabbe and Goyle, were there, but oddly enough, Harry was nowhere to be seen.

"You'd never know the Weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave," Draco was saying scornfully, and to Scorpius's surprise, Crabbe looked angry. He claimed it was a stomachache, but Scorpius knew a look of anger when he saw one. Then he was just confused as Draco began talking about Dumbledore hushing up attacks of some sort because he loved muggleborns. And then, in an imitation of someone named "Creevey" who Scorpius thought must be his History of Magic teacher, Draco began to pretend to take pictures.

"Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, Potter?" Though Scorpius knew that his father was referring to someone else, it looked horribly like Draco was mocking Scorpius himself, a mockery of the adoration and respect Scorpius felt towards the Potter family.

"Saint Potter, the Mudblood's friend. He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood. And people think he's Slytherin's heir. I wish I knew who it is, I could help them." Scorpius screamed again, wordlessly, overcome by frustration at not knowing what was going on, what the "Slytherin's heir" thing was about, at Harry Potter being mocked and insulted, and at hearing Hermione referred to by the m-word. Suddenly he felt like he was being lifted upwards. He looked up and saw a rather anxious James Potter pulling him by the hand, and in a flash, he was back on the floor of Harry Potter's office.


	13. Self Hatred

Chapter 13: Self Hatred

Scorpius Malfoy lay on the floor of Harry Potter's office, sobbing.

"I'm so evil! I hate it!" he wailed.

"No you're not! I'm the evil one! I'm sure I'll bite them, or worse..." Suddenly Lily, who was sobbing too, had grabbed him in a hug.

"Lily, it was just a dream. You'll be fine if you take your medicine. We need to get out now, before Dad catches us," James worried, his brown eyes darting frantically from Lily and Scorpius, to Galaxy, who was looking at the two with concern, to the door, where he was sure his father or Ginny would appear.

"How can you be so calm around me?! When I could kill you in four days!" Lily shouted at her brother, shoving Scorpius away, fearing that she would hurt him too.

"How can you let someone like me into your sacred home?!" Scorpius wailed, "I deserve to be thrown out in the mud!" James ignored them both and tried to make a run for it, but he crashed right into Harry himself, who had heard the noises while he was downstairs, getting the presents ready. Not only were there gifts for his immediate family, but also presents for the other Weasleys, who were coming for a big family visit.

"James Sirius Potter! What are you doing in my office at night?! Get back to bed!" Harry bellowed, grabbing James by his arm as the boy tried to slip away guiltily.

"Sorry, Mr. Potter, he thought it would be a fun night for a sneaky adventure, like you used to do," Galaxy admitted sheepishly.

"Not only did you drag the younger children with you...what did you say to Lily and Scorpius? Did you make them cry?" Harry demanded, certain that James had been teasing them.

"Lily just came in here crying a few minutes ago, I think she had a bad dream. And I don't know what's wrong with Scorpius, but maybe he saw something scary in that weird glowing bowl of yours," Galaxy supplied. She knew James wasn't entirely to blame, though the "adventure" had been his idea.

"My pensieve? Scorpius looked in my..." Harry trailed off, his anger seeming to soften as he looked at the boy who was sobbing on the floor.

"What's a pensieve? I thought that was a word that meant you were thinking about things," Galaxy said, forgetting that she was in trouble.

"Get back to bed, both of you. That means you two, Galaxy, James. I'm going to talk to Lily and Scorpius and see what's wrong with them," Harry said sternly, "I'll tell you what a pensieve is later." James sighed sullenly and shuffled out of the room, Galaxy following him, looking rather guilty and still wondering why Scorpius and Lily were so upset.

"I'm scared, Daddy! I don't want to hurt you!" Lily burst out, jumping up and grabbing Harry around the waist.

"You won't hurt me, Lily. Not if you take your medicine, and you've been doing that every day this week. I promise you, you won't hurt anyone if you take it," Harry said, holding his daughter in a hug.

"I had a dream...I was attacking everyone. You and Al and James and Mummy, they were all bloody and hurt," Lily whimpered.

"I saw myself hurting you too. You and Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," added Scorpius.

"No, you didn't see yourself, Scorpius. That was your father," Harry said firmly, still holding Lily, "You are not your father."

"How did you know what I saw in your pensieve?" Scorpius asked, confused and wiping away his tears, "Why did I see my father and you when you were my age?"

"That's because it stores memories. If you look in the pensieve, you watch what happened in someone else's past, or perhaps watch your own past from the point of view of an outside person. It can also be used to temporarily put memories that you don't want to think about out of your mind. I put those memories of Draco in there because I didn't want to think about him when I saw you. I only wanted to see you as being Scorpius, as being you. I didn't want to treat you like Snape treated me," Harry explained.

"You mean Severus Snape?" Scorpius asked, "What did he do to you?" Scorpius had heard things about Severus Snape, that he was a former headmaster and Potions teacher at Hogwarts, that he had spied on Voldemort, helping to bring him down from the inside. And, of course, he had heard the rumor that Snape didn't really die, but had turned himself into Daisy Puff, but he didn't believe that last thing.

"Severus Snape and my father knew each other in school. They did not like each other, and that made Snape hate me. So I don't want to judge you off of what Draco did to me, because I know you are not him. You may look like him, it's true, but you are a very different person. You are not evil," Harry stated, though Scorpius still looked gloomy and skeptical. He and Lily did go back to bed, though, since tomorrow was going to be a big day. However, Scorpius was frightened, afraid of seeing Ron and Hermione and remembering the things Draco said about them. How could someone like him face such wonderful people?

"Even Harry had to take thoughts out of his head so he wouldn't hate me," Scorpius whispered sadly to himself.

Soon it was Christmas morning. Albus, Rebecca and Teddy, whose sleep had been undisturbed, were the first to get up, but soon almost everyone else followed. Except for one person.

"Where's Scorpius? He doesn't usually sleep this late, does he?" James asked, anxious for everyone to be awake so that the presents could be passed out sooner.

"Maybe he's still sad about what he saw in the pensieve," Lily suggested.

"But it's Christmas! How can he be sad? I'm going to get him!" James declared, and he charged out of the dining room, leaving his half-eaten bowl of cereal. Galaxy jumped up too, curious and wanting to follow.

"Ron and Hermione are going to arrive any minute now," Ginny noted, but then she became concerned and turned to her husband. "You told me what happened with Scorpius last night. Do you think he still blames himself for what Draco did?"

"I'm sure he does, he didn't seem at all convinced even after I talked to him," Harry said, and then he went off in the same direction James and Galaxy had gone.

"Come on, Scorpius, you're going to miss the presents! Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron are almost here!" James exclaimed. He was trying to pull Scorpius out of bed, but Scorpius was still clinging to his pillow, tears still falling out of his eyes.

"Not them...not after what I saw myself doing to them last night..." Scorpius whimpered.

"For the last time, that was Draco, not you! Quit hiding from everyone like a scared little mouse! You're a Gryffindor! That's proof you're not like the rest of your family!" James burst out in exasperation.

"Yeah, don't you remember Sirius Black? He also was from a family like yours, but he turned out okay, right?" Galaxy added.

"He still got blamed for killing people," Scorpius muttered, although he finally faced Galaxy and James.

"It had nothing to do with his family, though, that was because of Peter Pettigrew. Come on and face the Weasley clan, or I'll tell everyone you're too scared to be a real Gryffindor," James teased.

"I'm not...I AM a real Gryffindor!" Scorpius suddenly shouted, flinging his pillow at James and charging out of the room, dashing right past Harry down the stairs and finding Ron, Hermione, Hugo and Rosie all in the dining room with the rest of the Potter family.

"Scorpius! Are you feeling better now?" Ginny asked him, noticing that he still looked angry about something.

"No, but I won't be a real Gryffindor if I hide from everyone," Scorpius replied determinedly, "Especially not the people who my father and grandfather hurt." Suddenly Lily screamed, as Teddy became rigid in his chair, his eyes and hair flashing all different colors.

"The badger, snake, lion and eagle will be at war. The four will come and divide the grounds where the Dark Lord fell!" he intoned before slumping against the table and gasping for breath.


	14. Weasleys and Werewolves

Chapter 14: Weasleys and Werewolves

"What's wrong with him? Why did he just say that?" Galaxy asked, completely confused.

"I think he might be a Seer," Harry explained, "He may have just made a prophecy about the future of Hogwarts. Which, if it's true, it means no more fighting over your houses. It means that there will be people who will want to divide Hogwarts more than it already is."

"Well, if anything like that happens, I won't let anyone make me hate Rosie and Al, just because they're not Gryffindors," James declared.

The tense situation was soon broken with the arrival of the rest of the Weasleys, turning Grimmauld Place into a site for a big family reunion. Bill and Fleur came with their children, Victoire, Dominique and Louis. Percy and Audrey brought their daughters, Lucy and Molly Jr., and George came with his wife Angelina and their two children, Fred Jr. and Roxanne. And of course, Arthur and Molly came too. Scorpius, Rebecca and Galaxy were all welcome to join the festivities, and Scorpius was especially surprised when Harry and Ginny had presents for him. These included a stuffed lion doll and a toy car, which highly interested Arthur as well.

"Thank you so much...I saw muggle children playing with toy cars and things before, but Father never let me have one," Scorpius sniffled, now crying happy tears.

"Come visit me sometime, I can show you lots of neat muggle contraptions," Arthur suggested, and Louis nodded eagerly and bent down to Scorpius's ear.

"I'll try to sneak something into school and show you there. I'll find an unused classroom," he whispered mischeiviously. Scorpius laughed, that sounded so wonderfully rebellious! Messing around with muggle appliances with a Weasley Slytherin...it was exactly something Draco would hate!

Elsewhere, Galaxy, Rosie and Lucy had taken Rebecca to another room and were telling her about what it was like to be a witch at Hogwarts.

"And during the Sorting, you have to pass through the bodies of each of the house ghosts, and whichever one doesn't kill you is the one whose house you'll be sorted in," Lucy was saying, and Rosie frowned at her older cousin disapprovingly.

"You know that's rubbish, you just have to put on a talking hat. Don't make up creepy things like that. The last time anyone actually died at Hogwarts was during the famous Battle, and that wasn't normal school activities," Rosie corrected.

"Why are you such a spoilsport, Rose? You're just as bad as Dad," Lucy pouted for a moment, but then she grinned mischeviously again and whispered to Rebecca. "She just doesn't know about the legend of the killer Pygmy Puff. It sneaks into your bed at night and will strangle you with its long tongue."

"But Puffs are so cute! They wouldn't hurt anyone," Galaxy countered, cuddling Rosie's pink Pygmy Puff, which was named "Candy."

"I agree with Galaxy. I'm sure the Sorting doesn't kill people either, the Potter kids told me about the talking hat too, and so did Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. I may have 'muggle' parents, as you call them, but I'm not stupid," Rebecca added, rolling her eyes at Lucy.

"Awww...I'm going to find Hugo and James. They're a lot more fun," Lucy pouted, stomping out the door to find her other cousins. Rosie, Galaxy and Rebecca continued talking about Hogwarts, and Rebecca became excited about the next year's September, when she would finally be able to join the school of magic.

Elsewhere, in a large mansion far away from Grimmauld Place, there was a man who was not filled with Christmas cheer. He sat in a chair, unmoved by the luxury he resided in, his mind occupied with sadness.

"I'm sorry, Scorpius," he whispered, "I wish I could see you, but it's not safe." An obviously pregnant woman stepped in front of him, smirking.

"Why do you care about that little bloodtraitor? This baby is going to be our new heir, we're going to raise her to be a real Malfoy," she bragged, "And she's going to help the snakes take over." The man sighed and managed a weak smile, which became real as a blissful passivity washed over him at the woman's spoken command of "Imperio."

At 12 Grimmauld Place, Scorpius was unaware of what was occuring at his former residence. He was busy saying a happy goodbye to most of the Weasley family members, who were leaving for their respective homes that Christmas night. Only Ron and Hermione remained, along with their children; they were going to stay with Harry until New Year's Day.

"All right, a whole week with James! We're going to have lots of fun!" Hugo exclaimed happily, a familiar mischevious gleam in his eyes. However, the week wasn't fun for everyone. Soon it was December 28, and that evening the dreaded full moon would rise. Lily anxiously gulped down her Wolfsbane that morning, knowing that she absolutely needed it today.

"Will she have to hide from us? Because I'm curious to see a real werewolf, since I know she won't hurt me," Galaxy wondered.

"No, you don't have to hide. It's easier if I'm not alone," Lily admitted. That evening, it happened while Lily was in her room, reading the dragon book Charlie had given her. She screamed in pain as her body forcefully changed from that of a human girl to a little wolf, and Teddy ran into the room to comfort her, Galaxy and Scorpius following curiously. Lily's screams quickly turned into wolf howls, which subsided into whimpers as the initial pain of transformation went away. Scorpius and Galaxy watched, they had both heard that werewolves were terrifying monsters, but Lily wasn't scary at all. In fact, she was rather cute as a little wolf, especially when she licked Teddy's hand, just as a puppy would do.

"She's adorable!" Galaxy giggled, thinking about Serena's cute little Pomeranian dog. Scorpius agreed, but he also felt sorry for Lily. It looked like that transformation really hurt her. Harry and Ginny then came in to comfort their daughter too, and Galaxy had a question for them.

"How did she get bit? I haven't seen any werewolves around recently, besides her, so I'm curious how it happened. And I thought most of them took that medicine so they didn't attack people," Galaxy asked.

"Most of them do, especially since it's been made more available now through St. Mungo's. But there are a few werewolves that might become bitter and hate humans, or else just have cruel personalities, and it was one of them who attacked Lily. It happened when we were going home from King's Cross Station. Lily wanted to walk home and we stopped to get ice cream on the way as a treat for her since she couldn't go to Hogwarts yet. Then she saw the werewolf and thought it was a dog and wanted to pet it. Ginny and I were able to stop the werewolf from killing her, but the damage was done, as you can see." Harry sighed, Lily's interest in dangerous animals reminded him of Hagrid, only in Lily's case, she didn't have the advantage of having giant blood to protect her.

"I think I would have done the same thing Lily did. She looks so much like a puppy..." Galaxy trailed off, stroking Lily's soft orange fur. "I'm surprised more people don't just pet werewolves. Wolves aren't that different from dogs."

"You'd think the problem would be solved, what with it being required by law for werewolves to be given the Wolfsbane potion, but there's still people out there who refuse to take it or else forget it for some reason or another," Harry said wryly.

"Luckily, those people are only a small minority of the werewolf population, so don't worry too much," Ginny added.

"That's a werewolf?! Aww, I thought she'd look like a scary monster," Hugo burst out, peeking into the room, "She just looks like a dog."

"But if she was acting scary and mean, then she might bite you. And you don't want that, do you?" Galaxy asked innocently.

"Maybe I do. It would be pretty cool to be a werewolf. Come on, Lily, bite me, bite me," Hugo smirked, sticking his tongue out and making faces.

"Stop that right now, Hugo Weasley. Believe me, you do not want her to bite you," Ginny scolded, getting up and pulling her nephew out of the room.

"Sorry about that, Lily, he doesn't understand," Teddy said gently, as Lily had begun to whimper when Hugo came into the room.

"Um, you're done with Hogwarts, right? What kind of job do you want to have?" Galaxy suddenly asked Teddy, changing the subject.

"I think I would like to be a Divination teacher. I have been studying the various types of divination, and as you saw, I think I sometimes have predicted things. Professor Rain has had trouble finding a new person since Trelawney left," Teddy answered.

"I hope Bunny likes your class, then! She says she wants to study Divination when she's old enough, since she always has wished she could be a Seer," Galaxy said happily. The rest of the night was peaceful, and Lily slept in Teddy's room that night as a wolf, curled up on the floor.


	15. Bunny's Family

Chapter 15: Bunny's Family

It had been a week since they were back at Hogwarts, and Bunny and Albus were invited to visit Hagrid on Friday afternoon again. In the past visits they had with Hagrid, he had told them about Grawp, his half-brother. Albus was curious to meet a real, full giant, and for Bunny, this would be a chance to meet her uncle. So, under Hagrid's supervision and permission, the three of them went into the Forbidden Forest after lunch.

"Is it really safe for us to be going in here? I mean, I've heard that some pretty dangerous things have happened here," Albus worried, despite his curiousity about meeting Grawp.

"Yer safe with me, Al. An' nothin' in the Forest is really that dangerous, not if you know how ta handle 'em," Hagrid said cheerfully. Albus knew that Hagrid was very good with vicious beasts, but he also had a tendency to underestimate their potential for hurting people, or so he had heard. Then again, Albus supposed that both Bunny and Hagrid would be able to protect him if anything really bad happened, since they were both very big and strong. They walked in relative silence for a while, going deeper and deeper into the Forest. Bunny paused and gasped in awe when she saw what looked like a beautiful white horse with a horn run by.

"It's a real unicorn...I've only seen them in books," she whispered, her eyes following the magical creature's path as it disappeared into the trees.

"Take Care of Magical Creatures when you get old enough, then," Hagrid suggested with a wink.

"Is that Grawp?" Albus suddenly asked. He heard loud, booming footsteps in the distance, and they were coming closer as the trees rustled violently.

"Hagger!" Out of the trees came a huge, lumpy-looking man who had to be Hagrid's brother Grawp. Grawp was about to pick up Hagrid and hug him when he noticed Bunny and Albus looking up at him. Bunny was fairly calm but Albus, despite his curiosity about giants, made a small squeaking sound and hid behind Bunny shyly.

"Hello, Uncle Grawp," Bunny said quietly, "I'm Bunny Simmons." Grawp stared at Bunny and shook his head in confusion.

"You too big for bunny," he finally said, "You big human girl."

"Grawpy, Bunny is your niece's name. She's my daughter," Hagrid explained.

"It's just a name, like how some people are named after flowers but they're still people," Bunny added, hoping Grawp wouldn't be angry at her and think she was lying.

"You pretty," Grawp said, smiling. He reached down and was about to pat Bunny on the head. He then stopped, looked at Hagrid, who was staring at him sternly, and then gently stroked Bunny's blond hair. Albus breathed an audible sigh of relief, he was sure that Grawp was going to hit her accidentally.

"I'm glad you think I'm pretty. Can I ask you something? Do you normally live in this forest, Uncle Grawp?" Bunny asked, thinking that if he did, she was surprised no one else knew about it.

"He usually lives in a cave, not here so close to people. I brought him specially ter see you," Hagrid replied proudly, "He also wanted to visit me." The group was then startled to hear booming footsteps again, since Grawp was right there with them.

"Did she really come..." Hagrid whispered to himself. His question was answered as a gigantic woman shoved her way out of the trees. She was even bigger than Grawp was, about 20 feet tall, and, most surprisingly, had messy blond hair and striking green eyes.

"Rubeus! I finally found you in here!" the giantess exclaimed, "Is that my daughter? She looks just like me!"

"Are you my...mother?" Bunny gasped. She had known for a long time that at least one of her parents was probably a giant, but meeting someone who was this big...was she going to be that huge when she grew up too?

"Of course I am! So, Rubeus, she goes to school at that castle?" the giantess continued, ignoring the fact that Hagrid wasn't entirely happy with the reunion.

"Why did you leave, Helga? I thought you were different!" he burst out, suddenly upset.

"But I am different. I just can't live with humans, now if you had agreed to stay with ME, that would be different. And there was the matter of having a baby, it's just not in my nature to take care of them like you expected me to," Helga the giantess argued.

"I have a job here! I can't just abandon Hogwarts! Look at Grawpy, he gets along fine with the kids!" Hagrid shouted back at her. Bunny and Albus watched them argue, Grawp wandered away, distracted by something, and Bunny sighed.

"Maybe we should just leave. I mean, if my real mother didn't even want to take care of me..." She trailed off, tears forming in her eyes. She had been warned that she probably would never get to meet her real mother, Hagrid had told her that most giantesses weren't very maternal and that they didn't like to stick around and take care of babies. But for a moment, Bunny had thought this would be different, since her real mother had seemed happy to see her.

"Maybe we should. Especially if they start fighting or something," Albus gulped, he liked hearing about giantesses but Helga intimidated him, especially when she and Hagrid were yelling so loudly.

"Don't leave! Helga doesn't hate you, Bunny, she came all the way here to meet you!" Hagrid called after them. Bunny turned back uncertainly, but then she noticed Helga was smiling.

"It's okay, Bunny. It's true, I don't really like the idea of taking care of a baby, and I don't know how to justify that to you and Rubeus. But that's just the way I am, and as much as I like to think I'm different from other giantesses, maybe that's one thing that makes me like the others," Helga admitted, "But it's still nice meeting you. I'm glad you're able to live with the other students at that school, especially since I'm sure you'll grow up to be even bigger than Rubeus."

"Are you going to be visiting Hogwarts for long? Do you live somewhere nearby?" Bunny asked, wondering if she could visit Grawp or Helga during the summer. Her adoptive parents were certainly open-minded enough to take in a girl they knew was related to giants, so perhaps they would be willing to visit too.

"No, I travel a lot, so I have lots of different homes. Mostly in the wild, but since I've always thought English wizards and witches were interesting, I learned English so I could talk to them. So I usually live somewhere in England," Helga explained, "What kind of things do you do for fun? Do you like the magic school?"

"Yes, I do. I guess I like to read a lot, and I like my classes, especially Charms and Astronomy. I hear that if I want to take Divination when I get older, I have to be really good at Astronomy," Bunny answered, wondering how much Helga knew about Hogwarts from Hagrid.

"Just be sure you also take Care of Magical Creatures with me," Hagrid reminded her somewhat jokingly.

"Of course I will. I've been hoping to take your class ever since I heard you were a professor," Bunny said, surprised that her father even had to ask.

"Um, Hagrid? I got a book for Christmas that I think you might like. It's called Gulliver's Travels and it's about a man who travels to various countries. It has a land of tiny people, a land of giants, some other weird places and finally a place with horse people. I think you might like it," Albus spoke up rather nervously. He had been curious to show it to Hagrid, and this was the first time they really got to talk together since Christmas vacation ended.

"I'll take a look at yer book, Al, it sounds interestin'. You don' have ter leave, Helga ain't gonna hurt you," Hagrid reassured him.

"I just thought you and Bunny might like to be alone together, since she's your daughter," Albus admitted.

"Naw, I always like seein' you and yer brother. Hopefully Lily will come visit too when she gets old enough," Hagrid said, "She was very interested in meeting all the interestin' creatures when she visited last, back in September."

"I think she would like to visit you a lot. She's been looking forward to taking Care of Magical Creatures since she always loved animals," Albus said sadly, thinking about how it was Lily's love of animals that got her bit by that werewolf.

After Bunny and Albus had talked to Hagrid and Helga some more, it was time for them to go back to the castle. It was time for supper, and, more importantly, Albus decided it was time he fulfilled his New Year's resolution.

"I'm going to finally do it," he told Bunny as they headed back to the Great Hall, "I'm going to visit the Memorial Wall."


	16. The Memorial Wall

Chapter 16: The Memorial Wall

After supper, Albus and Bunny headed over to the Memorial Wall. It was a series of plaques and photos of the people who had died in the Battle of Hogwarts and also some of the survivors as well. And in the center were two large portraits of Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore, the two headmasters who had done the most in fighting Voldemort. They were also the people Albus had been named after. At the wall, Albus noticed someone else was there too.

"I'm sorry, Colin Creevey. I'm sorry my father mocked your admiration of Harry Potter and cheered on the Basilisk that turned you to stone," Scorpius was saying, "I'm sorry for all the crimes my family committed against muggleborns." There were obvious tears of guilt in his eyes, and he didn't even notice Albus and Bunny watching him, unsure what to do.

"WOOOO!! I am the ghost of Colin Creevey! I will haunt you, Draco Malfoy!" said a voice. Scorpius and Al both yelped in surprise, and Bunny gasped, but it was only David Longbottom.

"I'm not Draco! I'M NOT!! I'M NOT I'M NOT I'M NOT!!" Scorpius screamed, lunging at David, who smirked and stepped aside nimbly as Scorpius crashed to the floor in a sobbing heap. "I'm not...I'm not Draco," he whimpered.

"But you look JUST like him! Maybe you're his little clone?" David snickered.

"Please stop it," Albus said shakily, as Scorpius's sobs became louder, "Please don't do that to him. I'll tell...I'll tell Hagrid."

"You won't need to tell Hagrid," said a stern voice, and Albus was very relieved to see that Neville Longbottom had stepped in to the conflict, "That is enough bullying him, David. 15 points from Gryffindor. And it's also disrespectful to the memory of Colin Creevey, I heard that first thing you said."

"Aww, but he's so fun to mess with! And don't you like seeing someone who looks just like Draco all groveling and crying? Isn't that what you would have liked seeing Draco do to you?" David winked, nudging his father.

"Regardless of how I feel about Draco Malfoy, Scorpius is NOT his father. You have been given detention by at least of one of your professors for each day this week, and if you keep picking on Scorpius, I will have you do detention for me this weekend," Neville retorted, "Now back to Gryffindor Tower with you." David stuck his tongue out, but ran off in the direction of the Tower anyway.

"You don't have to do that for me," Scorpius whimpered, "I deserve it. I know how cruel my father was to you."

"And thus I don't approve of seeing people being bullied, especially because of who their families are," Neville said firmly.

Seeing that Neville had the situation under control, Albus decided to do what he had come to do. He looked first at the picture of Albus Dumbledore, feeling that he looked much less intimidating than Severus Snape.

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore," he began nervously, "My name is Albus Severus Potter. I was named after you and Professor Snape."

"Were you, now? And I'm guessing your father is Harry Potter?" Dumbledore said with a smile, a characteristic twinkle in his blue eyes, "Did you hear that, Severus?" Severus Snape, who was in the portrait adjacent to Dumbledore, stared at Albus Potter in surprise.

"Potter named his son after me?" he asked in disbelief, still staring right into Albus's eyes. The green eyes of Lily.

"He...he did," Albus gulped, hoping Severus Snape wasn't going to be angry at him, "He said you were very brave and that he wouldn't have minded if I had been in Slytherin like you. I ended up in Hufflepuff, but Slytherin wouldn't be that bad, I guess." If he HAD been in Slytherin, at least he would have his cousin Louis with him, although he may not have been able to spend as much time with Bunny and be able to meet her giant mother.

"You...you're finally talking to him! I wish I was named after Severus Snape too!" exclaimed a new voice. Melissa Blips, another Hufflepuff girl who was in the same year as Albus and Bunny, had interrupted them, "People think that you actually didn't die and turned yourself into a girl named Daisy Puff. Is that true? I don't think it is, because I think that ruins the romantic tragedy of your noble death." Severus Snape stared at her coldly.

"Do you really think I would turn myself into a little girl? I would think even a first year would know that people cannot be reborn in that manner," Snape scolded her.

"You also just interrupted a conversation between us and little Albus Potter," Dumbledore added, although he seemed a little amused that Snape had a fangirl. Certainly he didn't have many of those when he was alive!

"It's okay. If you like Severus Snape it's okay for you to talk to him," Albus said nervously. He wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say to these people who he was named after. Perhaps it was enough that he introduced himself to them for the moment.

"Hey, you finally did it, Al! And I found Bunny!" exclaimed Galaxy, who was with Serena and Rosie.

"Go away, all of you except for Albus. None of you are tragic enough for the company of Severus Snape," Melissa suddenly snapped, and then she became sweet again as she nuzzled up to Snape's portrait. "Isn't that right, Sevvie-poo?"

"You are no more tragic than those other children, and do NOT call me cutesy names. Now go away, you foolish child," Severus Snape retorted to Melissa, his black eyes staring at her coldly. She squealed excitedly at that.

"He's SOOO dark and brooding! Just the kind of man for me!" she giggled.

"If you like dead people, I guess," Serena commented, rolling her eyes, "I would rather hear what Galaxy has to say about her holiday with the Potter family."

"We can wait for Bunny if she wants to stay with Al while he talks to Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape," Galaxy shrugged.

"No, I'll come with you," Bunny said quietly, she really didn't think it had much to do with her anyway. Meeting his namesakes was Albus's business, not hers. And she was more curious to see what Galaxy thought of the famous Harry Potter. Sure, Al had told her a few things, but it would be interesting to hear Galaxy's side of the story. And of course since Rose had been with them since Christmas, she could add some information as well. So the four girls found an empty classroom, which was okay for them to use during the weekends unless one of the professors needed it. Headmistress Rain had been hoping to create a general meeting room where students from all the houses could come to socialize, but for the moment empty classrooms would do.

"Well, as you know, Scorpy came along with me. I didn't tell anyone but Rosie about this yet, but he and I got in some trouble with James on Christmas Eve night," Galaxy admitted, "He noticed that his father's office door was open and suggested that we could go play in there and explore. It was actually kind of fun for awhile, but James was kind of mean to Scorpius. Do you guys know what a pensieve is?" Galaxy asked them, pausing in her tale.

"Mum showed me one once. She said it's for viewing your memories like someone else would," Rosie supplied, "I heard Scorpius stuck his head in Uncle Harry's and saw some pretty scary things, since he was very upset and kind of scared of Mum and Dad on Christmas Day."

"James told him it was going to turn him into Harry Potter and he kind of pushed Scorpy into it. I think it had memories of Draco Malfoy being mean in it, especially to Harry Potter and Rosie's parents. Then Lily came in because she had a nightmare about attacking everyone as a werewolf, and Harry Potter came in and got angry at me and James."

"That's something to be known for. You visit the house of the famous Harry Potter, get into his stuff, and get him angry at you," Serena commented.

"Do your parents know?" Bunny asked.

"No, but Harry told me that if I made any more trouble like that, he would tell them. James and me had to clean up the mess we made and we also had to do the dishes that Christmas night, and there were a lot of those since all the Weasleys came over," Galaxy admitted, "But I also had fun there, and I met lots of new people when all the Weasley cousins came to visit, although I already knew who Rose and Hugo were. And I met Harry's godson, Teddy Lupin. He's past Hogwarts age and I think he wants to be a Divination teacher. And I also met Rebecca Dursley. She's muggleborn like you, Serena, her dad is Harry's cousin and she visits Harry a lot because she's going to come to Hogwarts too next year."

"Teddy Lupin? I saw the name 'Remus Lupin' on the list of people who died in the Battle of Hogwarts. Are they related?" Bunny asked.

"Yeah, Teddy was his son, but I think he usually lives with his grandma but he likes to stay with Harry a lot too," Galaxy said, "He has special powers so he can change his hair color and face and stuff, and I think that's called a Metamorphagus. He usually keeps his hair turquoise, though."

"He would certainly be interesting to see at the staff table if he became a teacher here," Serena noted.


	17. Tragic Transformation

Chapter 17: Tragic Transformation

It was a few weeks later, on January 26, that it happened. Bunny and Serena were playing together in the snow with Serena's dog, Jessica, during their free time. It started to get dark, and they realized that it was almost time to go back to the Great Hall for supper.

"Hi, Serena! Playing with your dog and the giant oaf girl?" said a voice that made Serena look around angrily.

"Andromeda, go away. And don't you dare hurt my dog," she growled.

"Why would I hurt your dog? She's cute. And that's pretty rude, telling me to go away when I brought a treat for her," Andromeda pouted, showing Serena that she had a bag full of dog treats.

"That better not be poisoned," Serena snarled, "Although I'm sure you would be expelled if you killed my dog."

"I wouldn't kill your dog! I like her! She's a pureblood, unlike you," Andromeda retorted, sticking her tongue out at Serena. Jessica smelled the treats by now, and she was dancing excitedly around Andromeda's feet, yapping and wagging her fluffy little tail.

"Fine, you can give her a treat. But I'm warning you, if you hurt her in anyway, I will make sure you will be punished," Serena growled. Andromeda grinned and waved the treat bag over Jessica's head.

"Do you want it? Do you want it? Then go get it! Wingardium Leviosa!" Andromeda called, and she raised her wand as she threw the bag high into the air. It sailed far, far away until it landed in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. Jessica took off running, and Serena charged after her.

"I knew you were plotting something! If something eats Jessica you'll be sorry!" she shouted back at Andromeda as she hurried after her beloved Pomeranian dog. Bunny took off too, heading for Hagrid's hut. If anyone knew the Forbidden Forest, it was her father, and if something attacked Serena or Jessica, he would be the one to help stop that creature. When she arrived at Hagrid's hut, he was also coming out of the door with Noelle, to give her a walk.

"Woah, Bunny! What's the rush? Are yeh back here for more tea?" Hagrid asked, as Bunny had been by to visit him earlier in the day.

"Serena's in trouble," Bunny panted, "She chased...chased her dog into the Forbidden Forest! Andromeda threw a bunch of dog treats in there!"

"I'm glad yeh came to me, Bunny," Hagrid said, "Come on, Noelle, let's go take our walk in the Forest an' find Serena an' her dog." They then heard a distant, eerie howl coming from the forest.

"Are there...werewolves in the forest? But how would they get here?" Bunny wondered nervously. From what Galaxy had described about meeting Lily, they didn't sound that dangerous if they took the Wolfsbane Potion, but otherwise, they were a serious danger to humans. Bunny didn't know whether or not half-giants like herself and Hagrid were as susceptible, or if dogs were, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out.

"Fenrir Greyback," Hagrid realized, "Didn' you read the Prophet? He broke out of Azkaban recently. If he's in there, then we have to find Serena before he bites her."

"But what if he bites me too? I want to help Serena and her puppy, but I don't know how to fight werewolves yet," Bunny worried, "Or would it matter since I'm part-giant?" Just then, Jessica came running past them, fleeing the forest and heading back to the castle, but there was no sign of Serena.

"It's okay if you come with me," Hagrid said, "We need to find yer friend." Bunny nodded and followed her real father as he led her into the Forbidden Forest, a place that students were usually not allowed to visit.

"Serena? Are you in here?" Bunny called out nervously. Part of her hoped that Serena would come dashing out, looking for Jessica. She then was horrified to hear a blood-chilling scream that sounded like Serena's voice, followed by another wolf howl. Hagrid ran ahead, muttering something that Bunny couldn't quite hear, and Bunny followed him. When they found Serena, she was in the clutches of a gray, silvery werewolf who she was struggling to fight off. But it was too late, as he was biting her just as Bunny and Hagrid arrived.

"Greyback! Yeh'll do no more damage here!" Hagrid growled, and a flash of red light shot out of the pink umbrella he hid his wand in. Greyback fell backwards, stunned, and so did Serena, who was screaming in pain as her body began to change against her will.

"Go, Bunny! Go find the Headmistress and Professor O'Blarney! I'll deal with both werewolves!" Hagrid yelled, although it didn't seem like Serena was in much condition to attack anyone herself. Bunny stared at Hagrid and the two werewolves for a moment and then she ran off towards the castle. Luckily, she met up with Professor Quigley, who was accompanied by Bianca Garbel. Even better, Bianca was holding Jessica, which meant that at least she was safe.

"I'm very glad you're safe, Bunny. Bianca told me what happened between Serena and Andromeda, and I'm very glad she came to me instead of going into the Forbidden Forest. You and Miss Garbel should go back into Hogwarts, Greyback wouldn't dare come in there. Does Rubeus know about this?" Professor Quigley asked.

"Professor Hagrid and I found Serena already. Greyback bit her and I think she's..." Bunny didn't know what was going to happen next, how could anyone rescue Serena and bring her back to Hogwarts like that? Wouldn't she bite everyone, even if she was injured?

"Here he comes now," Amanda noted, seeing Hagrid coming out of the Forest with two unconscious werewolves drapped over his shoulders, one was obviously Fenrir Greyback and the other was a smaller, more puppyish black werewolf. "Bunny, you and Bianca should go back inside until we know if it's safe for you to visit your friend." Bunny nodded sadly, she wanted to be there for Serena but she didn't want to get bit herself, nor did she want Bianca to be hurt either.

"Let's go find Galaxy and tell her what happened too," Bianca said, "And your friend Rose. They should be eating in the Great Hall by now." She and Bunny went back to the castle and entered the Great Hall. Bunny looked over at the Ravenclaw table and noticed Rose was sitting near her cousin Lucy and Daisy Puff.

"Hey, Rose, your giant friend's late. And I think she's confused, she thinks she's a Ravenclaw," Lucy teased.

"Bunny knows where she usually eats. There might be something wrong, Professor Quigley just left from the staff table and so did Professor Rain," Rosie pointed out.

"Something did happen. Bunny, you better tell her since you saw it more than me," Bianca said, nudging the giant girl closer to the Ravenclaw table.

"Something happened? Are you hurt?" Rosie asked, concerned and also rather confused, since Bunny and Bianca didn't look like they were injured in any manner. For her part, Bunny wasn't sure she wanted to announce in front of everyone that Serena had been turned into a werewolf. What if people hated Serena and then Serena got angry at Bunny for being a blabbermouth?

"Can I tell you and Galaxy together in a quiet place?" Bunny requested, "Something did happen to Serena, but it's kind of a secret." Rosie was even more confused, since she wasn't sure why Bunny wanted to keep that kind of thing a secret, especially since some of the professors obviously knew about it. She decided that finding out what happened to Serena was more important than eating at the moment, and followed Bunny and Bianca to the Gryffindor table, where Galaxy was.

"Galaxy, Bunny says something bad happened to Serena, but she wants to tell us in secret," Rosie explained.

"Did Andromeda hurt her? Because I saw Professor Quigley yelling at her about something," Scorpius guessed, "Andromeda's just as bad as my father was."

"It did have to do with Andromeda, but I think Serena should tell you on her own if she wants to," Bunny answered. She definitely didn't want to tell Scorpius about Serena being a werewolf, he was kind of nice but he was loud and probably didn't keep a secret very well.

"Sure, you can tell me! Let's go to that empty room we sometimes meet in," Galaxy said, curious about what had happened to Serena that was such a secret that they couldn't tell Scorpius. As the five girls, which included Bianca, went to find that room again, they passed Harry and Ron in the hallway.

"Rosie! What's your dad and Harry Potter doing here?!" Bianca shrieked in surprise.

"We're here to bring Greyback back to Azkaban and make sure he doesn't escape again. We need to get him away from here before he attacks any more students, especially on a night like this," Harry explained bluntly.

"Was it Serena who he attacked?" Galaxy gasped, realizing what this could mean. Was Serena like cute little Lily now?

"Yes, it was," Bunny finally admitted, "She was turned into a werewolf."


	18. A Furry Little Problem

Chapter 18: A Furry Little Problem

"I bet she's so adorable now! Let's go see her!" Galaxy squealed excitedly, and Rosie stared at her disapprovingly while Bunny just looked horrified at her friend's insensitivity towards Serena's plight.

"It's not safe to visit her yet! I'm sure only certain people will be allowed near her in the hospital wing, even if she is injured. Do you want to be bitten too?" Rosie scolded her, "We should all go to the safety of our house common rooms and stay there until morning."

"What about Bunny? I saw Professor Hagrid carrying both Serena and Greyback and he was fine. Since she's part-giant too, wouldn't she be safe?" Bianca asked, "Maybe she should be there because she saw what happened."

"Or Professor Hagrid could have just known the best way to subdue a werewolf. There's no guarantee his giant blood is what protected him," Rosie worried, "But it might be safe for her to at least check."

"Go see Serena, Bunny! If you're able to see her, you can tell her I'm taking Jessica back to her kennel in the Slytherin dorms and that she'll be safe there," Bianca said with a grin as she hugged Serena's Pomeranian dog. Bunny began to go in the direction of the hospital wing, but she stopped, looking to Rosie for approval. What if Rosie was correct about Hagrid just knowing how to handle werewolves and Serena bit her?

"It might be just fine for you, Bunny. I'm going back to Ravenclaw tower and we can all see Serena in the morning," Rosie reassured her, "Galaxy, you should go to your common room too." Galaxy pouted but went off in that direction, while Bunny decided that she should at least try to visit Serena. She went to the hospital wing and found that Bridget O'Blarney was guarding the door. Bridget smiled when she saw Bunny.

"You can come in if you like. I think you'll be safe, since your father is in there," she said kindly, and she followed Bunny into the room. Harry Potter was in there, along with Professor Rain, Madame Pomfrey, Professor Sprite and Hagrid. Amanda Quigley was there too, since she was Serena's head of house. And on the bed next to Hagrid was a small black werewolf who was covered in bandages.

"Serena..." Bunny whispered to herself. It didn't look like Serena at all, but Bunny knew that had to be her. She wondered where Greyback was, or if he had been taken back to Azkaban already.

"She won't need to have Wolfsbane sent from St. Mungo's. As long as she's a student at Hogwarts, I'll make it for her. I'll even send some home with her during the summer," Amethyst was telling Madame Pomfrey, "I'll send a note with her so that her parents know what it's for."

"Bridget, the other students should know about werewolves. All of them," Samantha Rain said, "And if Mr. Potter would be kind enough to explain his personal experience to the students, that would be helpful as well."

"I was thinking about doing that," Bridget replied, "And Serena has a visitor. It's her friend Bunny."

"If I'm not supposed to be here, I can leave. Or if it's not safe for me," Bunny said meekly. She wanted to visit her friend, but not if it was against the rules or if it was dangerous.

"It's safe for you, especially since Poppy gave her a pretty strong Sleeping Draught," Samantha said, smiling at Bunny, "It's good to see that Serena still has friends who are loyal to her despite what happened to her." Bunny was surprised that anyone even had to ask her that, but then, she supposed there were some people who would refuse to be friends with a werewolf. Yet that was silly, wasn't it? Serena would be harmless if she took that special medicine every month. And Professor Sprite was going to make it for her, so that problem would be solved. However, Serena could still be dangerous, since this was her first transformation. Bunny cautiously crept towards her bed, trying to make as little noise as her huge size would allow. She reached a hand out slowly and she touched Serena's fur with the tips of her fingers. It was soft, and felt like a dog's fur.

"I hope Lily has friends like that when she comes to Hogwarts," Harry noted, he had been watching Bunny quietly.

"From what I know about her, she sounds really sweet. I'm sure she'll have lots of friends," Bunny replied, "I don't understand why anyone would hate her. I mean, I know there are mean werewolves like Greyback, but aren't most of them nice? I'm sure Serena will be the same person she always was."

"Prejudice against werewolves hasn't gone away entirely, but it is a lot better than in the past, when Wolfsbane Potion wasn't as readily available. Not to mention there's no more Voldemort to lure them onto his side," Harry explained, "And Bridget, I will help talk to your class about werewolves."

"I was curious, do James and Al know you're here? Or is it supposed to be a secret until Monday?" Bunny asked. While she liked being with Hagrid, her real father, she did sometimes miss her adoptive parents. She would certainly want to know if they ever came to visit the school.

"I wouldn't call it a secret, but they don't know yet. Not unless someone told them," Harry said, he hadn't seen them in the hallways, though he did see Rose.

"Bunny Simmons? Are you in here?" called a new voice. Bunny turned around to see an older girl with short red hair in the doorway. She recognized the girl as being Molly Weasley, a 6th year prefect, and she felt a little guilty. Professor Sanders probably sent her to look for me, she thought.

"Hi, Uncle Harry! We came to look for Bunny, since she didn't show up in the Hufflepuff common room with the rest of us. Professor Sanders told us to go there to be safe," Molly continued.

"I'm sorry I wandered off," Bunny said meekly, "I thought it would be okay since Professor O'Blarney let me in. I wanted to see Serena. But I don't think I should wake her up so I'll leave now. Thank you for letting me visit, everyone."

"Professor O'Blarney let you in? Well, she's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, so I guess she would know if it's safe. If you're staying, I should go back and tell Professor Sanders where you are, so he knows and doesn't worry about you," Molly said.

"I'll go back. There isn't much I can do for Serena right now," Bunny sighed. It was true, she couldn't talk to Serena when she was asleep, and if Serena was awake, then she would be a threat to the school. It would be better to come back in the morning with Galaxy and everyone, when it was safe. Also, Bunny thought that Al would like to know what happened, since his own sister was a werewolf. He might like to hear that his father was at the school, too. As Bunny left with Molly, she wondered if Galaxy had told Scorpius what happened yet, or if she was keeping it a secret from him. Or even if James knew, since Harry was there. Molly took Bunny back to the Hufflepuff common room, where she was greeted by Victoire Weasley, who looked very relieved.

"I'm so glad everyone is safe now! There were the most horrible rumors about what happened to you...Melissa was convinced that you had been killed and that you were going to haunt everyone!" she exclaimed, hugging Bunny around her legs, "And then she started saying that Severus Snape was really a vampire who lived in a Forbidden Forest, and that he was going to bite you!"

"Severus Snape...what?! I don't understand what he has to do with me visiting Serena in the hospital wing," Bunny said, now confused. What was it with Melissa Blips and believing strange things about Severus Snape? First he was actually Daisy Puff, now he was a vampire in the Forbidden Forest? Why wasn't Melissa content to leave him as a dead hero?

"So that's where you were. Come on, Bunny, you need to see someone. He's been worried sick about you," another Hufflepuff girl named Vanilla Zabini declared, and she led Bunny over to the door of the boys' dormitory and knocked on it. Chorlton Zapper stuck his head out and then disappeared again. Bunny heard some muffled, excited talking, and then Albus Potter came shyly to the door.

"Are you...is it...Bunny?! You're safe!" he gasped, staring at her in relieved shock.

"Yes, I am, and I think Serena will be safe too. She's like your sister now," Bunny explained, unsure whether or not she had good or bad news about Serena. It was good that she had survived, but bad in that she had fallen under the curse of the moon.

"Poor Serena...I don't know her that well, but I wouldn't want anyone to be hurt like that," Albus said sympathetically. Sure, there were ways to deal with it, but according to Lily, it hurt a lot to turn into a werewolf, even when she took her special medicine. Not to mention he wasn't sure whether or not anyone had caught Fenrir Greyback yet.

"You can visit her tomorrow if you want. I'm going with Galaxy and Rosie," Bunny offered, "There might be someone you'd like to see there too. Your father and your Uncle Ron came to the school today because of the attack. They caught Greyback with Hagrid's help and I think he was taken back to prison. So he won't bite anyone else." Albus sighed with even more relief when he heard the last part. When he had heard about Fenrir Greyback's escape, he had been terrified that he or someone else close to him would be turned into a werewolf too. And since Serena certainly would take her special medicine like Lily did, she wouldn't hurt anyone and the school would be safe again.


	19. Visiting the Monster

Chapter 19: Visiting the Monster

On Saturday morning, Rosie woke up knowing what her plans were going to be. After breakfast, she would go with Bunny and Galaxy to visit Serena in the school's hospital wing. She also guessed that Bianca was likely to come as well and bring Serena's dog Jessica with her.

"I'm pretty sure it was one of the Slytherins, at least, that's what I heard. I saw Professor Quigley in the hallway, and she looked pretty upset," Ariel Marsh was saying to Andrew Simpson out in the main common room.

"Serves them right, I hope he or she eats all the others in their beds," snickered Andrew. Rosie listened to them, unsure whether or not to tell them she knew it was Serena. Serena might want her condition to be a secret, but then again, if the truth didn't get out soon, strange rumors might spread, like what happened with people believing that Daisy was actually Severus Snape.

"You know that wouldn't happen, Andrew, Professor Rain wouldn't let anyone get away with that. There's that special medicine werewolves take so they don't attack people. The mysterious Slytherin werewolf will have to take it if she or he wants to stay at school," Ariel argued, "Hey Rose, do you know anything? I saw Ron Weasley in the hallways, you know, your father, so I thought you might know who Greyback's victim was."

"I...I do," Rosie admitted, unsure how to respect Serena's privacy without lying to Ariel, who probably didn't mean any harm by asking. "But I think she might want to tell people herself." Ariel looked disappointed, but she shrugged.

"Oh well, we'll find out sooner or later. Either way, that Andromeda Elm girl has something to do with it, or so I've heard," she said. Rosie was relieved that Ariel didn't ask any more questions, although she had some of her own for Serena, Bianca and Bunny. She still didn't know what Andromeda had done that had caused Serena to be attacked by Greyback, especially since she was pretty sure Andromeda wasn't a werewolf herself. Did it have to do with Serena's dog somehow, since Bianca had been carrying her? After breakfast in the Great Hall, Rosie met up with Bunny, Galaxy and Bianca, who had Jessica the Pom with her.

"Hi, Rosie! I wonder if Serena will still be cute and furry when we get there?" Galaxy giggled.

"She shouldn't be, not if they're allowing visitors. Remember, she just got attacked, so she wouldn't have time to be taking that medicine," Rosie reminded her. She then remembered what Ariel had said earlier about Andromeda. "Bunny, Bianca, there was something else. How did Serena get attacked by Greyback? I know he didn't get into the school itself, but wouldn't he be caught easily if he went out where everyone could see him? And why did you say Andromeda was involved?"

"Andromeda caused it, but she didn't mean to. She threw a bag of dog treats into the Forbidden Forest and made Jessica chase them. Greyback was in there, and that's where he attacked Serena," Bunny admitted.

"I hope Serena's allowed to have visitors. At least, she should be allowed to see her doggy. She got herself hurt for Jessica's sake," Bianca commented.

"There's no harm in checking, right? Let's go!" cheered Galaxy, leading the way to the hospital wing. They were allowed in by Amanda Quigley, who said that they could come as long as they didn't get too rowdy. Rosie quickly saw where Serena was, she was lying on a bed next to Hagrid, back to her human form now that the moon had set for the day.

"Hi, Serena! Are you awake? I brought Jessica to see you," Bianca said cheerfully, as the little Pom was squirming in her arms, eager to be reunited with her now partially-canine friend. Serena stirred and rolled over in bed, turning to stare back at them with angry brown eyes.

"I'll kill her...I'll kill Andromeda..." Serena was muttering to herself. She suddenly sat up, knocking the covers off of her, showing that her body was covered in bandages. "I'LL KILL HER!!"

"No, Serena. Yeh'll not kill her," Hagrid warned her sternly, grabbing Serena before she tried to jump out of bed.

"It's what she turned me into. She turned me into a VICIOUS MONSTER AND I'LL KILL HER!!" Serena screamed, struggling in Hagrid's arms. Bunny backed away, fear obvious in her eyes, Galaxy and Bianca just looked confused, and Rosie gasped too, ready to run like Bunny. But she couldn't leave Serena like that. There were other people, like her cousin Lily, who turned into werewolves too, and they didn't become vicious monsters because of it.

"We won't let that happen to you, Serena. We won't let you turn into a monster. I don't want you to turn into that," Rosie whimpered, trying to be brave, "If you do you'll sink to Greyback's level."

"Yeah, Serena! Lily's a werewolf too and she's really cute and sweet! If you just take the same medicine she does, you'll just be all cute and furry every month, just like your doggy," Galaxy added, thinking of when she had met Lily over the holidays. Serena stopped struggling and stared at Galaxy in disbelief.

"I am NOT cute. How could you even think that?! Andromeda turned me into a bloodthirsty monster! All night I had dreams of killing and murder, of eating everyone, and I loved it," Serena snapped, "Now that I'm awake, Andromeda will be my first victim."

"No, Serena. It's not your job to punish Andromeda, and I've made sure she's punished severely. You will not be a monster at all, not if you take the Wolfsbane that Professor Sprite has so kindly agreed to make for you. If you even try to kill anyone, I will make sure you are expelled," Amanda declared, stepping up to Serena, who matched her glare, and then softened, tears forming in her eyes. Rosie then thought of something.

"What if Lily came and talked to you? You know, my cousin?" she suggested, although she wasn't sure how that could quite work. Would Lily be allowed to come to Hogwarts again?

"Yeah, she's a werewolf too, but she's really nice!" Galaxy added eagerly.

"Serena, if you let yourself turn into a monster, you'll give Andromeda control of your life. Don't let her ruin your life. Like they said, there are other people who are werewolves, and they are able to lead fairly normal lives most of the time," Amanda added with a slight smirk, "You don't want Andromeda to beat you, do you?" Serena looked at her Head of House in confusion, and then everyone turned to see that James Potter and Scorpius Malfoy had entered the hospital wing too.

"See, ask James. He can tell you how sweet Lily is, and how being a werewolf doesn't mean that she's doomed to a life of eating people," Galaxy stated bluntly, she seemed the least surprised that the two boys had entered. Scorpius seemed to be disappointed about something, and he scowled at Galaxy.

"You said Harry Potter was going to be here," he pouted.

"Dad probably had to go home and take care of Lily. You know what last night was," James reminded him.

"If it helps, Scorpius, you might like to know that I heard Mr. Potter is going to come to the Defense Against the Dark Arts and help Professor O'Blarney teach everyone about werewolves," Bunny spoke up, now that Serena seemed less likely to go on a biting rampage.

"You heard that? When? Were you visiting while I was asleep?" Serena suddenly asked, surprised that anyone would want to have seen her when she was in that state.

"I did. Hagrid told me it was okay, that werewolf bites couldn't hurt me," Bunny admitted, "Mr. Potter and some of the professors were in here, and I heard them talking about that. I think they want everyone to understand what you really are, and not be afraid."

"So you're not scared of me?" Serena asked, surprised.

"Of course not! Why would we be scared of you? I wanted to visit you earlier too, like Bunny did, but Rosie told me not to," Galaxy said cheerfully. Rosie wasn't sure what to say, she wanted to reassure Serena like Galaxy and Bunny, but the truth was, Serena did sound quite frightening a few minutes ago, when she was threatening to kill Andromeda. But if she told Serena the truth, would she lash out again and decide to be a monster? Rosie gulped when she noticed Serena was glaring at her.

"Admit it, Rose, you hate me now. I know I'm different than Lily, I can't be sweet like her," she snapped.

"No...I don't hate you..." Rosie began nervously, "It's just that you were scaring me when you said you wanted to kill Andromeda. I don't want you to turn evil and be like Greyback."

"I won't. I can't be sweet like Lily but I promise I'll take that medicine. I still want to get revenge on Andromeda but I don't want to get kicked out of Hogwarts," Serena admitted.

"Andromeda's already got her revenge," Amanda reassured her, "She's been terrified that you'll bite her, she didn't know Greyback was in the forest. And I'm sure she won't have time to bother you much in the evenings since she has detention for the rest of the year. It actually was thanks to Bunny and Bianca here that I even knew what Andromeda had done to you and your dog." Serena looked at the two blondes.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, "Thank you for rescuing me."


	20. Lily and the Ravenclaws

Chapter 20: Lily and the Ravenclaws

Over the weekend, Serena stayed in the hospital wing. Rosie had heard that Serena would probably be allowed to start going to her classes again on Tuesday, and she was relieved that her friend was going to be able to rejoin them. Also, there was another surprise on Monday. Not only was Harry Potter staying at Hogwarts for the week, since he was going to help Professor O'Blarney with the discussion of werewolves, but so was his daughter Lily. While she had heard that Lily was there to help give personal experience about her "furry little problem," Rosie didn't get to see her cousin until Wednesday evening. At supper in the Great Hall, she had been approached by Amy Zimmerman, one of the Ravenclaw prefects.

"You know your cousin Lily has been staying at Hogwarts Castle this week, right?" Amy began, unsure how much Rosie knew.

"I know she's staying somewhere, but I haven't seen her yet. I know she's helping Uncle Harry teach the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes about werewolves, since he and Professor O'Blarney thought that someone who had direct personal experience with being a werewolf was needed," Rosie answered. She then remembered something else. "I think she visited her brothers in the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff common rooms, since my friends Bunny and Galaxy told me about that."

"That's what I wanted to tell you about. She's going to visit Ravenclaw Tower tonight. Would you and Lucy like to be her tour guides?" Amy asked, looking at Lucy Weasley, who was sitting near Rose and had been listening too when she heard Lily's name mentioned.

"I guess I could show her things. Is it really okay to let her in the common rooms, though? Isn't that supposed to be secret?" Rosie worried.

"Why would it matter? She's obviously not a Squib, she's coming here in two years anyway. We're not going to hide Hogwarts from her forever," Lucy shrugged.

"I guess that's true, since her brothers probably told her enough things about Hogwarts already," Rosie admitted. Of course, then it wouldn't be as much of a magical surprise when Lily came as a student for real, but perhaps it wouldn't matter, given how badly she had wanted to come.

"I'm going to bring her to Ravenclaw Tower with Professor Sprite tonight, and you can see her then," Amy said. Rosie and Lucy agreed, and Rosie found that she was a little excited about seeing her little cousin again. She wondered if Lily liked staying at Hogwarts, and how she felt about giving out her own werewolf experiences to the students. Most of all, Rosie hoped that no one was being cruel to Lily, either because of her condition or because they were jealous that she got to visit Hogwarts early. After supper, Rosie went back up to Ravenclaw Tower, and it wasn't very long until she heard her cousin's voice, talking to Amy.

"What if someone from another house gets the answer to the question? Would they be let in too?" Lily was asking.

"I guess they might, though I've never heard of anyone trying to get in besides the teachers. It is a different system than the other houses have, though, since they have secret passwords," Amy answered. Lily looked around the room and then noticed Rosie was waiting for her in one of the chairs.

"Hi, Rosie!" she called eagerly, running up to her cousin and pouncing in her lap, giving her a big hug.

"Hello to you too, Lily," Rosie smiled, hugging her little cousin back, "Did you have fun visiting your brothers in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff?"

"Yes, I did! I got to meet all the people in their classes, too. At least, I met the Gryffindors who were your age, Galaxy told me who everyone was. One of the girls in Hufflepuff, someone named Melissa Blips, was curious if I got to talk to Severus Snape's portrait yet, but I said I didn't talk to any of the portraits," Lily answered, "Can I meet everyone in your classes, Rosie?"

"Just look around the common room here, Rosie and I can show you," Amy agreed, and Rosie nodded. Lily started looking around the room, and then she noticed Daisy Puff sitting in a chair, reading.

"Who's that? She looks like Severus Snape, only she's a girl," Lily commented.

"That's Daisy Puff. I think she's his cousin," Rosie explained.

"His cousin? But he's dead, and even older than Daddy and Mummy! How can she be his cousin, she's the same age as you!" Lily exclaimed, now staring even more at Daisy, who turned and returned her stare coldly.

"If you must know, it is because my uncle is Tobias Snape. My mother and her twin sister are much younger than he is, but they are still siblings," Daisy sighed, "And I don't mind if you tell people, it'll stop those foolish rumors about me actually BEING Severus Snape in some form."

"So THAT'S the connection? Or are you just hiding something, hmm? A sister who's probably young enough to be his daughter?" Ariel Marsh smirked.

"That's exactly what I said," Daisy replied coldly, "You seem to want me to be hiding something, Marsh. Perhaps reality is too boring for you?"

"It's not boring! It's just too weird that you're the cousin of someone who died over 19 years ago!" Ariel shouted back.

"Um, who's that? And why doesn't she believe Daisy?" Lily whispered to Rosie, who wasn't sure if she should get involved in the fight or not.

"That's Ariel Marsh. And I don't know why she doesn't believe Daisy," Rosie said. True, it was a little strange, but there was no reason to believe that Daisy was lying. And if you really don't believe her, Ariel, Rosie thought, you could just research the question or ask Professor Quigley or Headmistress Rain.

"Fine, I'll believe you for now. But I have ways of finding out the truth! I can send an owl to your parents, for example!" Ariel declared. Daisy rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book. By this time, most of the other Ravenclaws had entered the tower too.

"Is that the little werewolf girl? She's cute," commented Jennifer, "I'm Jennifer Zimmerman, and I see you met my sister!"

"She's not a monster, Andrew, why are you trying to scare us?" said Crystal Carper, a redhaired girl who was talking to Andrew Simpson.

"Looks can be deceiving. And it's not the full moon right now, so of course she's going to look normal," Andrew retorted. Lily's smile faded, she had been trying so hard over the past few days to explain to people that if she took her special medicine, she wasn't the dangerous monster they feared. Most of the students seemed to believe her and Harry, but there were still the few, like Andrew, who feared werewolves anyway. Rosie sighed, noticing Lily.

"You'll see. Uncle Harry and Professor O'Blarney will tell all of you the truth tomorrow," Rosie said, hugging Lily protectively.

"But what about Fenrir Greyback? There are still werewolves like him out there. We need to know how to tell th' difference between t' evil'uns like him and t' 'armless werewolves. Perhaps they look different when they're transformed?" a boy named Rigel Green suggested.

"They do. I don't know how to describe it, but werewolves who have taken Wolfsbane just look like regular wolves when they transform. If they don't take the medicine, then they look different from normal wolves," Rosie explained, "I'm sure Uncle Harry will tell us all about that tomorrow."

"I don't think we should worry about werewolves right now. I think we should have a party with Lily!" exclaimed Jennifer, "I even have a present for her."

"Really? Thank you!" Lily squealed excitedly. Jennifer ran up to her dorm and came back with a small box. Lily opened it and found a chocolate frog inside, along with a card that had her father's picture on it.

"I thought you might like to have that. I already got one of Harry Potter, so I thought you could have it, since he's your father," Jennifer explained.

"No, I've never had one of my own before! My brother James collects them, but he's never let me have them. He said I could start collecting when I came to Hogwarts, so I'll start now," Lily said cheerfully, smiling at the picture of her father on the card, "Do you collect these too, Rosie? James said Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione have cards with their pictures too."

"I've started to collect some, but I haven't gotten my parents on them yet. I do know they have cards about them, though," Rosie said, "Dad was very excited and happy when he found out, especially since I don't think any of his brothers got cards about them. He finally got to have something special that they didn't."

"I kind of know how he felt, then. My oldest sister, Emily, was at Hogwarts last year and she was Head Girl and a Ravenclaw prefect too. My parents gushed about her and sometimes I think they wish I was just like her. I'd like to get the praise she does, but I don't think I can be as smart as she was. That's why I think I want to be a singer, since I like music," Jennifer said quietly to Rosie.

"Sometimes I feel like that too, since my parents are so famous and did such wonderful things," Rosie replied, "But I'm glad they accept me for being different, although Dad might have been happier if I was in Gryffindor.


	21. Lupine Lessons

Chapter 21: Lupine Lessons

The next morning, it was Thursday, and that meant Defense Against the Dark Arts class would be in the afternoon for the Ravenclaws. Rosie found that she was really looking forward to learning about werewolves from her uncle and Professor O'Blarney. Not only would it be useful information in general, but it would help her understand Serena and Lily's lives better. As she entered the classroom, she noticed Ariel had drawn a family tree on a piece of spare parchment. Rosie snuck a peek and noticed that it involved the Snape and Prince families, relatives of Severus Snape that included Daisy Puff.

"It makes sense when I write it out. And those birth announcements I read seemed to be authentic. It's just still weird that Tobias Snape would have two sisters so younger than himself, but it does seem that he and Eileen were fairly young themselves when Severus was born, which makes it not so strange," she was muttering to herself. She then looked in Daisy's direction as the hook-nosed girl entered the classroom. "I guess I believe you now, about being Severus Snape's cousin," she stated, though she sounded a little disappointed.

"Took you long enough. It's like you wanted me to actually be him or something," Daisy retorted.

"I did," Ariel said bluntly, "Because I want to meet him. I want to tell him he was the worst bully of a teacher for what he did to my father when he was a student. And to the other students too, he said Snape was nasty like that to everyone except the Slytherins. And he was so cruel to Harry Potter! I read what he did in Severus Snape, Saint or Scoundrel, about how he wanted Harry to be expelled and that he was the one who told Lord Voldemort to go attack the Potters!"

"But he wanted my grandma to live! So he wasn't that bad!" Lily pleaded as she entered the room with Harry Potter and Professor O'Blarney. She had heard some of Ariel's ranting about Severus Snape and wanted to defend him. Lily felt that if her own brother was named after him, then there had to be something good about him!

"Only Lily. Not Harry or James. Isn't that awful? He would have had a little baby and Lily Potter's husband killed! I bet he would have done it himself, too, just so he could have Lily all to herself!" Ariel ranted.

"Then why is my brother named after him?! Daddy wouldn't name Al after a bad guy!" Lily sobbed, frightened by the things Ariel was saying.

"Shut up about Snape! It's time to learn about werewolves! You were the one who told me I would learn the truth today!" Andrew shouted at her. Ariel stopped, finally realizing why Lily and her father were in the classroom, and she turned back to her desk, sticking the family tree back in her bag. Rosie sighed. Her parents had also been bullied by Severus Snape, or so she had heard, but she didn't understand why Ariel was so angry at him. At the moment, she wanted to learn more about werewolves anyway.

"As you probably might have heard, this is unofficially 'Learn About Werewolves' week here, because of recent tragic events that occurred last weekend. Thus, we have Harry Potter, head of the Auror office here to talk to you about his personal experiences with werewolves. His daughter Lily is here too, being a werewolf herself," Professor O'Blarney announced cheerfully, trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere that had arisen during Ariel's loud, angry speech, "Though I hear that some of you met her already in the common room last night."

"Can I also ask Mr. Potter questions about Severus Snape?" Ariel blurted out.

"Who wants to hear about him?! I thought this was supposed to be about werewolves?!" Andrew demanded, "Everyone keeps telling me that I'll learn the truth about them and now this is turning into a class on Severus Snape?!"

"No, this isn't really supposed to be about Severus Snape right now, although Mr. Potter may answer your questions after class, Ariel," Bridget said with a smile, "Now do you have any questions about the topic at hand?"

"How do you tell the difference between a werewolf and a regular wolf? I've heard they're really similar," Ariel said.

"They are. In fact, werewolves who take the Wolfsbane Potion not only keep their sanity, but they also take on the form of a normal wolf. But those who undergo the full transformation do look slightly different from regular wolves. Their tail is tufted more, and their snouts are shaped differently," Bridget explained, and with a wave of her wand, a chart appeared on the wall, showing a picture of a normal wolf and a full-fledged werewolf next to each other. Several students began taking notes and a few tried to draw the diagrams themselves, including Rosie.

"I know you have to be bit by a werewolf to turn into one, but what happens if a werewolf bites you and he or she is a human, like if it's not the full moon? Or if you get bit by a werewolf who took the Wolfsbane?" Ariel asked, raising her hand again.

"It is very unlikely that a werewolf who has kept his or her sanity would bite anyone, and I actually do not know if such a bite would have complete effects. And I'll let Harry answer your first question, since he knows someone well who had just that happen to him," Bridget nodded.

"My brother-in-law Bill Weasley was bit by Fenrir Greyback over 19 years ago," Harry began. "It was not the full moon, and thus Greyback was human at the time. He didn't turn into a real werewolf, but I think it did give him a taste for raw meat. So to answer your question, I think only the bite of a full werewolf turns a victim into one as well."

"One last question from me. What happened last Friday? I never found out who got attacked, all I heard that it was one of the Slytherins and that Fenrir Greyback had something to do with it," Ariel said. And she then turned to Rosie. "It always seemed you were keeping something secret about it, Rosie, do you know?"

"It was Serena Tippet," Rosie finally admitted, "She told me it was okay to tell people. It was Andromeda Elm's fault. She made a bag of dog treats fly into the Forbidden Forest, and of course Serena's little Pom chased the treats, and Serena ran after her dog. Greyback was waiting in there to bite a student or two, and I think..." Rosie's eyes began to tear up, as she realized what could have happened, that Serena's death could have been on Andromeda's hands. "Serena might have died if Bunny and Professor Hagrid hadn't rescued her and seen what happened. Please don't be scared of Serena, though, Professor Sprite is going to make the Wolfsbane for her so she won't attack anyone."

"Andromeda sounds like the real monster," Ariel muttered, "I never thought werewolves were really that scary, not since I heard there used to be a professor here who was one, and Dad said he was really nice." Remus Lupin, Rosie remembered, the person who was Teddy Lupin's father. She had been rather curious to talk to Uncle Harry about him ever since Serena had been turned into a werewolf, and now would be a good chance. She raised her hand tentatively, and then paused in mid-air, unsure how to address her Uncle Harry. Should she refer to him as such, or should she call him Mr. Potter like her classmates did?

"Do you have a question, Rose?" Bridget asked her, "That was very nice of you to explain what happened to your friend, you deserve to have anything you want answered."

"I...I do...it's for Uncle Ha...I mean, Mr. Potter," Rosie began hesitantly, blushing slightly since she had just made it obvious she was related to the most famous wizard of the 21st century, "I wanted to know more about Remus Lupin."

"That was his name! Dad always liked him, and was so sad when he left. That's another reason I hate Severus Snape, he was the one who made Remus Lupin have to leave because he told everyone that Lupin was a werewolf. And that time Snape substituted for Lupin, oh, you could tell he hated poor Lupin. Like it's any werewolf's fault that they got bit," Ariel ranted.

"It was Serena's fault, though. She was foolish enough to run into the Forbidden Forest after her dog. If she was being more logical, she would have told Professor Hagrid and let him deal with it," Daisy spoke up scornfully.

"That's so cold, Daisy! If it were me, I wouldn't hesitate to follow my sweet little kitty anywhere to protect her!" Jennifer retorted passionately, "I'm sure Serena felt the same way about her little dog."

"Maybe both Andromeda and Serena were at fault?" Rosie suggested. Part of her wanted to defend her friend, but she also felt that if Serena hadn't acted so impulsively, maybe she wouldn't have been attacked. If she had gone to Hagrid like Bunny did, maybe then Serena wouldn't suffer from lycanthropy. "Andromeda shouldn't have lured the dog into the Forbidden Forest in the first place, but like Daisy said, Serena could have gone and told Hagrid instead of running into a place where dangerous creatures live. I mean, since he and Bunny had to rescue her anyway." Daisy stared at Rosie, her black eyes showing surprise at this defense of her cold logic. Jennifer sighed.

"I guess you're right, Rosie, since the Forbidden Forest is a pretty scary place even without Fenrir Greyback," she admitted, and then she smiled again. "But at least we know now what a werewolf looks like and the differences between the nice ones and the bad ones who don't take their medicine. Can we hear about Remus Lupin now, Mr. Potter?" Harry did so, and the young Ravenclaws listened as they learned about a man who had been a werewolf even before Wolfsbane Potion was invented, and how he was able to still find friendship in a world that was prejudiced against him.


	22. Crazy Easter

Chapter 22: Crazy Easter

A few months passed, and it became spring at Hogwarts. Daisy Puff woke up on Easter morning, wondering if Cream, her older sister, had received the box of Bertie Bott's Beans she had sent her using one of the school owls. At the Ravenclaw table that morning, there was a rather tragic announcement in the Daily Prophet.

"Poor Rita Skeeter! It says she died yesterday, she was found on the sidewalk with her body completely crushed, like a gigantic shoe had stepped on her," Ariel lamented, reading aloud from her newspaper.

"Mum told everyone she was an unregistered beetle animagus a few years ago. That was when she tried to publish a biography of Harry Potter without his permission, and Mum told everyone about Rita being an animagus, so she was fired," Rosie explained. However, even she felt sorry for Rita. She had done some nasty things and had made her living on telling sensational lies, but she didn't deserve to die in that gruesome death. "But that's probably why she died, someone might have stepped on her when she was in her beetle form."

"I think she was very brave. She was willing to report the dirty secrets that needed to be told, and it takes a lot of skill to become an animagus. I know I want to be like her when I grow up," Ariel stated defiantly.

"You want to be someone who makes up lies about people?! She takes completely innocent things people say and turns them into big stories about secret love affairs and made it look like Harry Potter was insane when he was just trying to warn everyone about Voldemort," Andrew retorted.

"I wouldn't need to make stuff up," Ariel declared, "I would be able to find out everyone's REAL dirty secrets and exciting stories!"

"You mean like those candies that have stuff inside and you don't know what it is until you eat it? Because here come the owls, and I bet they're bringing our Easter candy," giggled Jennifer, noting that, as was usual in the mornings, the owls were flying over the tables, ready to give letters and packages to the students. A brown owl Daisy had borrowed from the school flew to her spot. It dropped a large box on the table rather roughly, and then set a smaller box gently on top of the first one. Ariel and Daisy both stared at the smaller box, as it had holes punched in the side, as if it enclosed a live animal. Daisy opened it and found a tiny black kitten lying inside on a soft bed that looked like it was someone's shirt. Cat food was scattered in the box too, obviously meant for the kitten to eat during its journey, and there was a note inside.

"It's sooo cute! Can I hold your kitty? Please?" Jennifer cooed, gazing into the box where the kitten was waking up, looking at all the faces that were surrounding it.

"Later," Daisy replied curtly. She left the table abruptly, ignoring the hurt look on Jennifer's face, and took both boxes up to Ravenclaw tower. Ariel would not ruin this, no one would. She wanted to be alone to enjoy her presents and not have any comments about Severus Snape or people trying to take her new pet away from her. She held the kitten in her lap and read her note, which was from her mother.

"We picked this cute little kitten out for you, since you didn't take a pet to Hogwarts. A neighbor's cat had kittens and I thought you would like to have him as a pet. Even Leslie was happy to send him to you," the note read. Somewhat to her surprise, Daisy found that she felt very grateful to her mother for sending her this kitten. They had never been able to afford a pet before, and it was very lucky that their neighbor had kittens available. She was a little suspicious, though, that Leslie, her older brother, was happy about the kitten. He always hated that she could do magic, and Daisy always assumed he was just jealous of her. It was in the second box that she found that her suspicions were correct. Along with the typical assortment of pastel packaged Easter chocolates and jellybeans, there was yet another box with "From Leslie" written on it. Daisy opened this one and found a bottle of cooking oil that had "Daisy's Hair Shampoo" written on it.

"It's genetic...you were just lucky you look more like Father did," Daisy muttered angrily, it wasn't her fault she had inherited the greasy hair from the Snape side of her family! The note that accompanied the bottle of oil was worse. It was a picture of a stereotypical "wicked witch" from some cartoon, flying on a broomstick with a black cat jumping behind her. Written in Leslie's handwriting were cruel notes pointing out similarities Daisy had to the witch in the picture, such as the black hair, the hooked nose, and the black cat. There was even an arrow pointing to the broomstick. Daisy let out a snarl and crumpled up the paper, throwing it across the room. The kitten leapt off her bed and began playing with the paper, batting it with his paws. Daisy laid across her bed and watched her new kitten, and she felt a vicious pleasure at the sight of her brother's cruel note being used as a cat toy. Several minutes later, there was a knock on the door to the girls' dormitory.

"Is it okay for me to come in, Daisy? I don't want to disturb you," Rosie Weasley's voice came from the other side, sounding frightened.

"I'm not stopping you," Daisy muttered, still staring at the kitten, who was looking at the doorway curiously. She didn't mind an intrusion as much if it was from someone like Rose. Daisy thought she was too emotional sometimes, but she was quiet, respectful, and generally logical. Rose Weasley, Rigel Green and Crystal Carper were the three other Ravenclaws Daisy felt she might be able to become friends with. Rosie stepped in cautiously.

"Serena's friend Bianca wanted to see my Pygmy Puff, so I came in to get her out of her cage," she explained, "Your kitten is cute, but I don't want to take it from you."

"Steven." Rosie looked at Daisy in confusion, her hand paused over the Pygmy Puff cage.

"I'm naming the kitten Steven," Daisy clarified. Rosie nodded as she took Candy into her hands and began petting the tiny ball of pink fluff. Candy made a soft humming sound, obviously contented.

"I hope you enjoy your new kitten," Rosie said with a shy smile as she left Ravenclaw tower to look for Serena and Bianca.

Surprisingly, no one else bothered Daisy that morning, and she spent her time trying the Easter chocolates from her mother and sister, watching Steven frolic, and reading her school books. It was at lunch time that the commotion began. When Daisy entered the Great Hall, she found Ariel by the Memorial Wall, taunting Snape's portrait.

"Bother, bother, bother! I'm bothering you and no one can stop me! Yeah you, you cruel excuse for a teacher who bullied all the students and insulted Harry Potter's dead father! Bother bother bother!" Ariel jeered.

"STOP THAT! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!!" Melissa Blips screamed, noticing what Ariel was doing to the portrait of her beloved Sevvie-poo! She jumped up from the Hufflepuff table and charged over to Ariel, shoving her aside. Ariel stumbled backwards, glaring at Melissa.

"You're that girl who loves Snape," she hissed.

"So what if I do love him? He needs to be defended from people like you who insult his tragic, heroic memory," Melissa pouted, "Isn't that right, Sevvie-poo?" She then proceeded to plant a big wet kiss on Snape's shocked and angry face, while Ariel burst out laughing at her. Daisy watched the unfolding scene from Ravenclaw table, and she found herself wondering exactly her cousin had done that had made him such a controversial figure. Sure, she could guess some general things from what she had heard at Hogwarts, such as his role as Dumbledore's spy and that he used to be a Death Eater, but still, Daisy wondered why her cousin had inspired such passionate emotions in people who had never even met him.

"I am not your Sevvie-poo, you foolish girl. One more inspid declaration of so-called 'love' from you and I will personally notify the Headmistress and inform her of your behavior," Snape warned Melissa, who just squealed excitedly.

"I love him so much! I love his dark scowl, especially the way it accentuates his wonderful aquiline nose!" she gushed, ignoring the fact that as she spoke, Snape had left the portrait frame for the one in the Headmistress's office.

"You are so delusional. And you made him go away. I wasn't done insulting him yet," Ariel snapped, annoyed that Melissa hadn't been deterred by Snape's scolding.

"I won't let you do that again!" Melissa yelled, and she tackled Ariel, wrestling with her on the floor of the Great Hall. Daisy and many of the other students watched as Zachary Sanders hurried over to pull them apart, followed by Amethyst Sprite, who looked frightened and nervous.

"She started it! She was bothering Snape's portrait, and all I did was defend him!" Melissa protested as her Head of House pulled her away from Ariel.

"He deserved it, I'm sure you know about all the evil things he did," Ariel retorted.

"That is NOT the issue here, Miss Marsh, you were not only disrespecting a former headmaster and professor, but fighting like that is not allowed here. Detentions for both of you, and Miss Marsh, you should serve yours helping Professor Sprite here, since she is not only your Head of House, but is the Potions professor like Severus Snape once was," Professor Sanders scolded both of them sternly, "And I will see you after Charms, Miss Blips. 30 points off from both of your houses for fighting, and an extra 20 from Ravenclaw for openly disrespecting Severus Snape's portrait, Miss Marsh."

"And you shouldn't kiss paintings, Melissa," Amethyst added gently, "Not only did you seem to upset Professor Snape, but the paint could have poisoned you."

"Not the paint on Sevvie-poo's portrait," Melissa whispered lovingly, "I'm sure it secretly loves me just as much as he does."


	23. Dogs and Wolves

Chapter 23: Dogs and Wolves

April 24th wasn't like any other Tuesday. That was because it was a full moon, the first time the two had ever coincided with each other since Serena Tippet became a werewolf. The importance of Tuesday was because it was that night she and the other 1st year Slytherins had Astronomy class. If she wanted to go to class, she would have to go as a werewolf. Which was why it was even more important than usual that she take her Wolfsbane this morning. When she arrived at Professor Sprite's office, she smelled something very tasty.

"You're just in time, Serena, I baked cookies," Amethyst greeted her with a smile, "I was planning to give them to my second years today, for prizes, but I'll give you a few too. You might like to have something sweet after your medicine." Serena noticed a hot pan of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on a table, and near it was a smoking goblet of her Wolfsbane Potion.

"Thank you! But I thought sugar ruined Wolfsbane," Serena wondered, "Or does that only count if you put the sugar in it?"

"That's exactly it. I still wish the taste could be made better, but it's not something I want to try to tamper with," Amethyst sighed.

"No, you wouldn't," Serena agreed, "I'll just drink it the way it is." She picked up the goblet and drank her Wolfsbane. As she was finishing it, she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in! You're just in time to have a special treat," Amethyst offered, and the door opened, revealing Lucy Weasley, who was holding a large package decorated with blue and bronze. With her was a tiny orange Pomeranian dog.

"Happy Birthday, Professor Sprite," Lucy said with a grin, and she pointed at the dog, "My cousin got this for you, specially ordered from Honeydukes." Serena was confused for a moment, wondering how Lucy could be related to the dog and why she had never seen it before, when the dog stood on its hind legs and grew, stretching until it was taller than Lucy and was an older human girl with strawberry blond hair.

"Victoire Weasley! I heard you got registered as an Animagus a few days ago, but I haven't seen your animal form yet. It's so cute!" Amethyst gushed.

"That's not the only thing new about her, is it?" Lucy snickered, nudging her blushing cousin, "She's...engaged. To Teddy Lupin." Serena wondered who that was, and then she remembered. Galaxy had mentioned meeting him at the Potters' house, he was Harry's godson, and he was a Metamorphagus.

"That's wonderful for you! And thank you for the birthday present!" Amethyst exclaimed happily, and she gave Victoire a big hug.

"I also have something for you. I finished the report on Shrinking Solution, and I thought this would be a good time to hand it in," Lucy said, handing a rolled-up piece of parchment to Amethyst, who smiled at her.

"Why thank you! I'm sure it will be just as good as the real Shrinking Solution you made in class," Amethyst said confidently, unrolling the paper to find a small green, glowing ball inside. It rolled out and landed on the floor where it exploded, sending sparks, green confetti and smoke everywhere. Amethyst shrieked in surprise and jumped back, nearly knocking over the tray of cookies. Serena could see Lucy running out the door, giggling, while Victoire followed her, muttering an embarrassed apology to Professor Sprite.

"You're going to take points off from her, aren't you," Serena stated, "That was incredibly stupid, pulling a prank on a professor like that."

"Maybe a little bit," Amethyst said nervously, waving the smoke away with her hand, "But I don't want to be too hard on her, she was just trying to have some fun."

"Why do you let yourself get walked all over like that?" Serena wondered, "I know I would be much stricter if I was a teacher."

"I just don't want anyone to be afraid of me," Amethyst admitted, "When I was a girl, I always tried to make sure my family knew I wasn't going to be evil and scary just because I turned out to be a witch. You know about the stereotypes, right, since your parents are muggles like mine. I didn't want to be like the evil witches in the storybooks."

"Trust me, Professor Sprite, no one would ever think you were evil," Serena reassured her, but she couldn't help smirking at the idea of the meek, gentle Potions mistress being someone frightening. Who did she fear she was like, Severus Snape? "And thank you for making the medicine for me. I'll definitely need it tonight."

"Good luck in Astronomy class," Amethyst said as she waved Serena goodbye. That evening, Serena found she kept looking up at the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall. The sun was setting and soon the full moon would rise, causing another painful transformation.

"Are you sure you want to go to class tonight? I know if it was me, I would use the chance to stay in bed," Bianca asked her.

"Professor Sparks said that we would be learning about the moon today, since the light of the full moon makes it harder to see the stars. I want to know whether or not the moon has anything about it that causes my transformations," Serena explained, "Maybe there's something magic about it that muggle scientists don't know about, since when I was in school, I was just told that the moon is a big piece of rock that's orbiting the Earth. Then again, most muggles don't believe in werewolves, either, except for my parents since they know about me."

"Obviously they make up stories about them, though, because one of my muggle cousins likes horror stories like that. Only sometimes they get things wrong, like thinking a werewolf looks like a furry human with fangs, wolf ears and a tail," Bianca noted.

"Probably to make it easier for making movies," Serena guessed, "Since trained wolves are harder to find than a person who could just put on a costume. Or some muggles could have seen someone who tried to become a wolf Animagus and failed, and then that person got angry and attacked." Soon, after supper was finished, Serena and Bianca headed back down to Slytherin Dungeon. It finally happened when Serena got to the girls' dorm and was ready to take Jessica out of her kennel to feed her. As Serena's hand reached out to the dog's kennel, she jerked backwards and screamed as the first pains shot through her body, distorting and changing her into the monster that Andromeda had doomed her to become every month.

"Do you want me to feed Jessica for you?" Bianca asked nervously. Serena just howled as her face was elongated and contorted, as fur sprouted all over her body, as she took the form of a young wolf. It still frightened Bianca to see her friend turn into this monster, frightened her even more than it hurt Serena so much. Bianca gulped and stepped around Serena cautiously, fearing she would step on her friend's paw and hurt her even more. She made it to the dog kennel, and when she opened it, Jessica flew out, yapping excitedly for her food. Luckily, after the initial stress of transformation, Serena was able to curl up on her bed and wait for Astronomy class. She knew it might scare some people, that it would be difficult for her to do anything besides listen to the lecture, but she wanted to know more about the moon. Bianca sat and petted her, and Jessica curled up right next to Serena, and that felt just right. If anything good had come out of being a werewolf, it was becoming even closer to her dog, since Serena found she could understand Jessica's dog language better on those full moon nights, knew more of what those yaps and dog body language meant.

Finally it was time to go to Astronomy class and Serena walked next to Bianca, knowing that some of her classmates were staring at her, that this was the first time she tried to go to class in this form. The hallways of Hogwarts were quiet at this time of night, and the only person the young Slytherins passed was Emerald Zinger, the new school caretaker, who was using his wand to scrub the words "I love Snape" and "Snape plus Melissa equals love" off of the walls. They reached the Astronomy tower, walking past the plaque that noted that this was the place the second War against Voldemort had begun at Hogwarts, the place Albus Dumbledore had died.

"Welcome, boys and girls. As you may notice, the brightest and most obvious object in the sky is the full moon," the Astronomy teacher, Orion Sparks, began, pointing to the bright orb in the sky. Surprisingly, Danny Nott was the first to raise his hand.

"I have a question, sir, about the moon. Do you know how it's able to turn certain people into werewolves? Like Serena? That is, I wanted to know if there was any kind of special magic the moon has," he stated. It had always confused him, why the phase of the moon had such an enormous effect on one of his classmates, why it was able to turn her into a wolf. Orion was surprised at this question, he had wondered about that very same issue but had never been able to find out if there was any special property the moon had that caused werewolf transformations.

"I honestly don't know, and I'm sorry I'm not able to answer your question. Wizards have never been to the moon to find out if it has any special magic of its own," he admitted, wishing he could answer Danny's question.

"Someone needs to create a magical spaceship or something. Like a broom that can fly into space," Moondust muttered to himself.

However, Orion Sparks was still able to teach the class what he did know about the moon, and Serena listened even more attentively than usual, especially when the idea of "lunar calendars" was mentioned. She decided that she wanted one for herself, to be able to know when the full moon was coming ahead of time, to be able to plan for her future.


	24. Scorpius's Dreams

Chapter 24: Scorpius's Dreams

Ever since the Battle of Hogwarts and Harry Potter's victory over Voldemort and the Death Eaters, May 2nd had been known as Victory Day in the Wizarding World. It was a special holiday at Hogwarts, a day with speeches and visits from famous guests who had participated in that battle. Even the classes were cancelled, although Dennis Creevey, as the History of Magic teacher, made himself available to anyone who wanted to hear the stories.

Scorpius expected to be happy on this day. He had been anticipating it excitedly, he had heard from the older students that Harry almost always visited that day and usually made a speech. But when he saw Harry, Ron and Hermione seated near the staff table at the Great Hall, he remembered the nightmares. It wasn't every night, but ever since he had looked into Harry's pensieve on Christmas Eve, Scorpius had frequent dreams in which he, not Draco, was the one who had bullied Harry and his friends. Even though he knew, intellectually, that those things had happened long before he was born, those images still haunted him. Images of a younger Draco were also next to images of Scorpius himself in those nightmares, constantly reminding him of their exact physical resemblance, as if he really was a clone of his father.

"What's wrong, Scorpy? Aren't you excited to see Harry again?" Galaxy asked, poking him gently in the side.

"I had those dreams again," he whispered nervously, "I see myself being so cruel to Harry, to people I admire. And I see my father's face in the mirror next to mine, like he was when he was my age. We look exactly alike."

"So what? You're still a different person. And you shouldn't blame yourself for things your father did, it's not like you did those things," Galaxy shrugged, "Maybe if you stopped worrying about turning into Draco and just had fun being Scorpius you would stop having those dreams. Maybe you have those dreams because you think about it too much."

"I'm not the only one who knows I'm just a little clone of my evil father! You hear what David Longbottom and Electra say about me! And they're right! I am evil! And I need to be punished!" Scorpius sobbed and he began hitting himself in the head, shouting "Evil! Evil!" over and over. By this point, several people were staring at him, and Galaxy grabbed his hand roughly, a surge of anger rising through her.

"You are NOT evil! You do NOT need to hit yourself or be punished!" she snapped, and she glared at Electra and David, who weren't even trying to conceal their glee. "See? Do you see what you've driven him to?! You two keep reminding him and giving him nightmares!"

"But that's what he deserves, the nasty little Malfoy," David snickered, "Isn't that right? You even look like a snob with that snooty pointy nose."

"That is enough, David Longbottom!" Coming to Scorpius's rescue was Neville, and he turned to Dominique Weasley, one of the Gryffindor prefects. "Could you please escort my son to my office? I'm going to have to have a serious talk with him after this morning's ceremony."

"What?! It's not my fault he's an evil...MPPHH!!" David protested as Dominique clamped a hand over his mouth and dragged him out of the Great Hall.

"Do you think you'll be able to eat breakfast and listen to the speeches, or would you like to go back to Gryffindor Tower?" Neville asked Scorpius gently, kneeling down to his height.

"I want to stay," Scorpius sniffled, "I want to hear Harry Potter's speech." He took his usual seat at the Gryffindor table next to Galaxy and James, still crying a bit. He felt like it was part of the punishment he deserved to listen to Harry and the others, since it was something Draco never would have bothered doing at that age.

After most people had finished eating, Professor Rain stood up and announced the guests who were visiting Hogwarts for the day. She then sat down as Harry began to make the speech he had planned for the day. Like he usually did on Hogwarts Memorial Day, he gave thanks to the people, both living and dead, who had helped him be able to defeat Voldemort that day.

"One thing we need to remember is love. That even if we have lost friends or family, that we still love those who are still with us. Also, while many of us may be angry at the Death Eaters, remember not to blame their children for the sins of their parents," Harry stated, "Hatred only drives us apart from each other and is what people like Voldemort thrived on."

"Is that why he got the Malfoys pardoned? They should've been sent to Azkaban," Electra muttered, causing new tears to pour out of Scorpius's gray eyes.

"Shhh, be quiet during Dad's speech," James hissed at her, partially in defense of his friend. Electra glared at him but kept her mouth shut for the rest of the ceremony, including Ron, Hermione, Neville and Hagrid's speeches. After the speeches were done, the students were allowed to have free time for the rest of the day. Galaxy saw Ron and Hermione go over to the Ravenclaw table, presumably to see Rosie, and she noticed Harry was heading over to where she was. She also noticed that Ginny had been at the ceremony too, and it looked like she was going to visit Albus in Hufflepuff.

"Hi, Dad! You're going to spend the day with me like you said in your letter, right?" James greeted him eagerly.

"Can I stay with you too? And have fun like we did over Christmas?" Galaxy added, waving to Harry from where she had been trying to comfort Scorpius at the table.

"Of course you can. It's more fun to have lots of friends around," James grinned at her, "And cheer up, Scorpius, I think David and Electra are just jealous that you got to visit us."

"You can visit, of course, Galaxy," Harry said with a smile, although he gave a worried look to Scorpius, who looked as if he hadn't believed James at all. He was glad that Neville had been able to take care of the situation with David, but Harry guessed that Scorpius was still worrying about the things he had seen in the pensieve, even after all this time.

"Yay! Can we go exploring and visit all the places you snuck to when you were our age?" Galaxy giggled.

"We'll see. I don't want to get you in trouble. There is something I would like to talk to James about first," Harry replied.

"Is it about what I did in Quidditch practice? I was just trying to get Fred to have more fun, like his namesake," James protested, "I was punished enough already."

"What did you do to your cousin this time?" Harry asked in a warning tone.

"Well, if Professor Glitter didn't tell you, then..."

"He put ice cubes down Fred's back! I was watching and it was really funny!" Galaxy blurted out and James glared at her, muttering that she was a tattle-tale. Galaxy giggled and continued her explanation. "And then James kept making goofy faces and Dominique tried to pass the Quaffle to him and it hit him in the face!" James looked like he was going to yell at Galaxy again, but then a mischevious look came into his eyes.

"Can we go find the mirror you mentioned in your letter, Dad?" he asked, completely changing the subject.

"What mirror? Is there a magic mirror at Hogwarts, Mr. Potter?" Galaxy added eagerly, excited for the chance for an adventure.

"No, we're going to Gryffindor Tower. Hopefully Fred will be there and you can apologize to him. I'm sure he has enough work with being Quidditch captain, prefect duties and OWLs coming soon without you playing pranks on him," Harry said sternly.

"I'm going to find that mirror anyway! I want to see Grandpa James in it!" James retorted and he took off, heading in the direction of the dungeon stairs.

"Let's go have an adventure!" Galaxy exclaimed, and she grabbed Scorpius and they also ran off to where they saw James disappear to. Harry sighed, he hoped James wouldn't become obsessed by that mirror like he did as a child. If they were going to the dungeons, then he would go see Ginny and tell her what James was up to.

"Where is this...mirror? Why...are we running?" Scorpius panted, struggling to keep up with Galaxy's fast pace as they found the steps that would take them to the dungeon level.

"Because it's a fun adventure!" Galaxy squealed, jumping down the steps two at a time. Scorpius tried to follow her and he tripped, falling down the last few steps, crashing into Galaxy, and the two of them landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. James poked his head out of a nearby empty room and snickered at them.

"Did you two follow me?" he said with a smirk, but he still helped both of them up. "Come see, I think I found the mirror Dad mentioned in his letter. I don't see my grandparents in it, but it's still amazing! I'm a big star in that mirror world!" Galaxy followed him in eagerly and Scorpius followed her, limping slightly from his fall and still panting heavily. He then saw it. The mirror, with what looked like backwards writing over the top of it. Scorpius then saw himself in it. And before his eyes, the Scorpius in the mirror morphed, turning into James's little brother Albus!


	25. Deepest Desires

Chapter 25: Deepest Desires

Albus and Ginny were busy playing a game of wizard chess against two of Albus's Hufflepuff classmates, Violet Waters and Chorlton Zapper, when Harry came into the Hufflepuff common room, led by Victoire, who had been put in charge of letting the visitors in. Ginny could tell something was wrong, and she hoped that James wasn't hurt.

"Where's James? Isn't he with you?" she asked, barely noticing it as Violet used the chance to take her Queen.

"He ran off looking for the Mirror of Erised," Harry informed her, "Scorpius and Galaxy followed him too."

"I think I've seen that mirror before. I saw myself riding a dragon when I looked in it," Chorlton spoke up.

"Where did you see it at?" Ginny asked him. She had heard about the amazing mirror, but never got to try it out for herself since it had been hidden away from the students while she was at Hogwarts.

"I think it was near the Potions classroom, but it's not in a room that's used as a classroom. I think it's in a storage area," Chorlton said, remembering where he had found it. It had been on the way to Potions class, and he had been distracted by the sight of himself riding a dragon in a mirror.

"I remember where the Potions room is, if that hasn't changed," Harry said, and he, Ginny and Albus went off to find James. Sure enough, they found the room where the mirror was. Scorpius was staring into it, looking very confused. He turned around, saw Albus, and yelped in shock.

"Why are you in the mirror? When I look at myself in this mirror, I turn into you," he stated.

"Are you sure you're seeing my little brother in there? Look for a scar," James suggested. Scorpius turned back to the strange mirror and looked closer. Indeed, James was right--his mirror self had a lightning bolt scar on his head!

"I see it! So this mirror shows me being Harry Potter?" Scorpius asked, "I always wanted to be able to look in the mirror and see..." Scorpius trailed off, tears of happiness forming in his eyes. It was the first time that he ever remembered actually liking what he saw in the mirror, instead of being constantly reminded that he looked like a little clone of his father. "Does this mirror show you what you want to see? Does it read your mind?" he asked Harry, still amazed at what was happening.

"Maybe it's telling you that you're too obsessed with Dad," James teased.

"Can I look in it too?" Galaxy blurted out, a little annoyed that Scorpius had been hogging the mirror. Scorpius stepped aside and Galaxy nearly shoved him away to get a better look at herself. "I'm an explorer! I'm exploring in a cave!" she squealed happily. Albus watched them shyly, wondering what he would see in that mirror if he was to look in it. He wasn't sure what it would be, he knew he loved being friends with Bunny and Hagrid. Maybe he would see them in the mirror.

"What does that mirror show, Dad? Is Scorpius right about it reading your mind?" Albus asked Harry quietly while Galaxy was having her turn.

"Sort of. Dumbledore told me that it shows your greatest and deepest desires. When I was your age, it showed me my parents and their relatives and ancestors," Harry explained.

"Come on, Al, look in the mirror too!" James called.

"Do you know what the mirror is showing us? Does it show us things that would make us happy?" Galaxy added.

"Yes. Dad told me that the mirror shows us the things we desire the most," Albus answered nervously. Even as James pulled him towards the mirror, Albus found he was afraid of it. How did the mirror know what people's greatest desires were? Was it like the Sorting Hat? What if it put a curse on him or showed him something frightening? What if it could show a person's fears as well? Albus stared, finally in front of the Mirror of Erised, and he relaxed. It wasn't frightening at all. In the mirror, he was sitting at a desk, writing something on a scroll of parchment. Surrounding him were pictures of his family, Hagrid and Bunny. Albus then noticed the award certificate next to the pictures. It read "Best fantasy author of the year" and had his name on it. Albus blushed when he noticed that, hoping that James couldn't see it. He had tried to write his own stories a few times, but he was too afraid of someone else seeing them and so they always had ended up in the trash.

"I'm sure I can make what I saw come true," James bragged.

"I don't think mine would be possible," Scorpius sighed sadly, "And it wouldn't change things, even if I could make myself look different. It wouldn't change my name or who I'm related to."

"Let's go back to Gryffindor Tower and play a game, Scorpy. I thought you would cheer up if we followed James," Galaxy said, "I like you a lot, but I wish you didn't hate yourself so much. It's not your fault who your father is or that you look like him."

"I wish I could believe you," Scorpius sniffled, beginning to cry again, "But those scary dreams seem so real and I'm reminded of them every time I look into a mirror or see a picture of myself."

"Like Galaxy said, we should go play a game so you can stop thinking about it so much," James interrupted, "Maybe then you'll start thinking about how you live in Gryffindor Tower which is very different from your father."

"That's exactly where you need to go too, James Sirius. In case you've forgotten, you were supposed to apologize to your cousin Fred," Harry pointed out sternly.

"Come on, Scorp," James sighed, annoyed that Harry had remembered that, "I need to get that done so we can play." Scorpius and Galaxy followed him out of the room. Harry was about to leave too, but then he looked at the Mirror of Erised and became curious. What would it show now? Would he still see his parents in the mirror? He stepped up to it. They were still there, his parents, the original James and Lily Potter, smiling at him. But now Ginny and his children were in the mirror with him. I do wish my parents could have met their grandchildren, he thought wistfully, James is so much like his namesakes. With that thought, he left the room to find James Sirius himself.

After Memorial Day, there was only a month until final exams, and most of the classes were geared towards review and for the 5th years, discussion of what was likely to be on the OWL exams. It didn't seem long before it was June, which meant that it was finally time for the exams. Bunny sat in the common room late on Sunday night, reading her Potions book. She liked Professor Sprite and thought she was sweet, but Potions was the subject Bunny had the most trouble with. Not only did she find some of the more delicate instruments awkward to use, given her abnormally large size, but she also found it difficult to remember the more complicated directions. Though Rosie, who was usually her partner, often helped her, as Potions was probably Rosie's best subject, Bunny still struggled with it.

"I wish Severus Snape was still the Potions teacher." Bunny was startled at hearing someone speak in the quiet room. Melissa was standing near her, looking at the book Bunny was reading.

"It does sound like he was very good at it; I heard he made his own improvements to some of the formulas. I like Professor Sprite, though, because she's so patient with me," Bunny admitted.

"I wouldn't even care if all Sevvie-poo did was scold me, I would still love to have him as a teacher," Melissa sighed romantically. Bunny didn't think she'd like a teacher who just scolded her all the time, and Snape sounded rather scary from what she knew about him. But if that's what Melissa liked, then it wasn't Bunny's position to tell her not to gush about the former Potions Master. There were suddenly more sounds as a hooded figure crept out of the boys' dorm. The mysterious person yelped in surprise upon seeing Bunny and Melissa were awake and his hood fell down, revealing that it was Chorlton.

"Aww, I thought you were Rocky," Melissa pouted, as she found the young vampire almost as interesting as her "Sevvie-poo." "Are you doing late-night studying like Bunny too?"

"No, I was told that Hagrid had some dragons that he was going to use in the exams, and that he was going to show them to me if I snuck out after dark," Chorlton answered innocently.

"Why would Professor Hagrid want you to break the rules? Who told you that?" Melissa asked, suspicious. She had seen David Longbottom talking to Chorlton earlier that day, and she suspected it was probably another of his tricks.

"David Longbottom. His father is the Herbology Professor, so I assumed he knew Hagrid wanted to see me. He told me Professor Longbottom would be there too and I could feed the dragons a special plant," Chorlton responded, sounding a little hurt that Melissa was being so suspicious of him.

"You do know that David Longbottom is one of the biggest troublemakers in our year? He's the reason Gryffindor has so few points right now, he keeps losing them," Melissa said bluntly, raising an eyebrow at Chorlton's naivety. Bunny found she was almost impressed with David in a weird way. One person singlehandedly losing their house so many points wasn't something that normally happened. She decided to go to bed finally, leaving Chorlton and Melissa to talk. Tomorrow was the start of an important week, and she would need to be alert for her exams.


	26. Going Home

Chapter 26: Going Home

On the second week of June, the exam results came out as usual. Rosie decided to look at hers with Bunny, Galaxy and Serena, and they met outside the lake, sitting under the same tree under which Snape had once been flipped upside down in front of Lily Evans. Rosie was the first to arrive at their meeting place, nervous about finding out what her grades were. What if she had failed something or, even if she had passed everything, wasn't as good as her mother? Would her parents be disappointed in her? She heard someone approaching and looked up. Galaxy, Bunny and Serena were there, and Scorpius was with them too.

"I brought him along because I thought we could cheer him up. He just found out he's still not allowed to go home for the holidays," Galaxy announced.

"I don't WANT to go back to that evil Manor! I'm glad I get to stay with the Potters!" Scorpius snapped defiantly, but Rosie could still see that there were tears in his eyes.

"What kind of parent wouldn't let his own son come home for the summer?! I'm glad my parents aren't wizards, if they're that cruel to their own children," Serena declared.

"Please don't think all wizards are like my evil father. The Potters are wonderful people to let someone like me stay with them," Scorpius pleaded.

"Let's open our grades now! I know I was one of the best in the Flying test!" Galaxy bragged. She was the first to open the envelope and she squealed excitedly. "I knew it! I got a perfect in flying!"

"And in Defense Against the Dark Arts, too," Bunny added, as Galaxy showed her grades to everyone. Unfortunately, those were the only two classes Galaxy had scored high in; she was barely able to pass most of the others. Bunny was the next to open her envelope. She had passed Charms with flying colors, and most of her grades were at least a little better than Galaxy's, although she had failed at Potions and barely passed her Herbology exam. Serena and Scorpius looked at their grades next. Serena had scored the highest in Astronomy, which she had paid extra attention to ever since she became a werewolf, and History of Magic was her worst subject. Scorpius's best classes were Defense Against the Dark Arts and History of Magic. Not surprisingly, he had completely failed at Flying, since he had never been able to stay on a broomstick for more than a few seconds without either falling off or it throwing him into the air. Rosie was the only one in the group left, and she nervously open her envelope. She began to cry when she saw the results.

"How could I have failed Charms?! That was always one of my mother's best subjects!" Rosie wailed.

"You didn't fail it, see, you passed. It's better than I did, at least," Galaxy pointed out cheerfully.

"You don't understand, I failed because I'm sure Mum and Dad will be disappointed in me. I'm sure they expect me to have better grades than even Mum did since I'm a Ravenclaw," Rosie sniffled.

"Did they actually say that to you? That you're expected to get better grades than your Mum? Because if they didn't, maybe they'll just be proud of the things you are good at. And I saw you in Flying class, you were one of the best there, too. I'm sure you could join the Ravenclaw Quidditch team when they get an opening," Galaxy reassured her, "Just like I know I'm going to try out for the Gryffindor team next year. They're going to need at least one new Chaser since this is Elmer Duff's last year."

"Thank you, Galaxy," Rosie said. She did like the idea of joining the Quidditch team someday. She did like flying, and she had done fairly well when she had played informal games with her cousins.

"Hey, it's someone's kitty! Does it want to play with your Pygmy Puff?" Galaxy giggled, noticing a black kitten was running up to them. Rosie did have Candy with her, the pink Puff was sitting on her lap.

"That's Daisy's kitten," Rosie realized. Sure enough, Daisy ran up next, obviously chasing the kitten. She was able to catch Steven when he stopped to creep up on Rosie's Pygmy Puff.

"Hi, Daisy! Do you want to sit with us? We were just looking at the grades we got on the tests," Galaxy offered cheerfully. Daisy stared coldly at Rosie, ignoring Galaxy.

"Watch your Pygmy Puff, Weasley. I've seen animals in this place that could eat it," she stated sternly.

"Is that a threat? Are you threatening to have your cat attack her pet?!" Serena growled.

"No. Just a general warning. That pink puff thing looks weak," Daisy replied coolly, and she walked off, carrying her kitten.

"She better not tell that cat to attack your Pygmy Puff. If she does, I'll send my attack Pom on it. Even Jessica could take on that kitten," Serena snarled.

"It really wasn't a threat, Serena, I think she was trying to help. I know some of the other animals people own here could easily eat Candy, especially the owls. And her kitten has tried to pounce on Candy before," Rosie said, defending Daisy's cold lecture. True, Daisy was cold and unfriendly, but Rosie didn't think she was evil or would purposely turn her kitten into an attack cat.

It wasn't long until the end of the Hogwarts school year, and that evening, the students all gathered in the Great Hall, most of them curious to find out who had won the House Cup. This year, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were both strong contenders, especially since Hufflepuff had won the Quidditch Cup, a rare occurence. The rubies in the Gryffindor hourglass were depressingly low, and more than a few people shot glares at David Longbottom, who had been the reason many of those points had been lost.

"Maybe someone did something in secret and Gryffindor will get a bunch of points at the last minute," James whispered to Galaxy and Scorpius, "You never know. Dad and his friends did that in their first year."

"Everyone, as you know, the Hogwarts Express will take you back to your homes soon. It's been an interesting first year for me, since I just became Headmistress last September. And I know everyone is waiting to hear the results of the House Cup competition." Samantha Rain paused in her speech, and then took out a piece of parchment. "In fourth place is Gryffindor, with only 315 points. Third place goes to Slytherin, with 424 points. It was quite a tough call between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, who were quite competitive in Quidditch this year. Hufflepuff has 497 points and they have won the Quidditch Cup. However..."

"This is where she's going to give me those extra points. I saved her toad from a fiery death a few weeks ago," James whispered confidently.

"While you were in her office for pranking Professor Quigley," muttered his cousin Dominique.

"Ravenclaw has won the House Cup, with a total of 499 points!" Samantha Rain finally cheered as blue and bronze banners were unfurled, decorating the Great Hall. She presented the House Cup to Professor Sprite, who blushed as she took it.

"But I rescued your toad!" James protested loudly, although he was barely heard over the cheers of both the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs, who had been very close contenders.

"Forget it, James, you'll have to do a lot better than that if you want to live up to Uncle Harry," Dominique commented, rolling her eyes at him.

The next day, the Hogwarts Express brought all the students back to London, where they would all go their separate ways for the summer. Harry and Ginny were waiting with Lily, and so were Ron, Hermione, and Hugo. Rosie nervously looked at her parents; she hadn't heard from them since she sent a letter home with her exam results. Were they disappointed in her?

"We're so proud of you, Rosie. You not only scored high on the exams, but you also helped your house win this year's Cup," Hermione greeted her with a hug.

"I was surprised when you were sorted into Ravenclaw, but now I'm sure that's the best place for you," Ron agreed. Rosie looked at her parents in disbelief.

"Really? Even though I didn't score as high as you did on the exams, Mum?" she wondered.

"That just shows you're related to your father too," Hermione teased, poking Ron gently. However, Ron seemed to ignore her, as he was watching where Scorpius had joined with the Potters.

"I should apologize to the little Malfoy. I was wrong about him being a bad kid, Harry obviously trusts him to be a good friend for James," he noted thoughtfully, "No matter what he looks like, he's not at all his father."

"Come on, Scorp!" James said as he pulled the blond boy into the muggle car next to him, "Let's get into Dad's stuff again this summer. I promise you won't have to look into the Pensieve this time. I remember hearing Uncle George saying something once about a special map he gave Dad, maybe we can find it." And though they had left Hogwarts behind for the summer, they had not left behind their adventures.


End file.
